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l^RHACHERS    OF  ThE  AgE 


J.  /.  ^/ 
LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


BV   4241    .W336 
Watkinson,   w.    l 


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(pteacpere  of  i^t  (^^t 


REV.    W.   L.    WATKINSON 


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iAA^<pan^  . 


:^^^^^^  ayMd^^^i^-za/'iyi^  <i^  jl^^a^;  ^^ J:!''C'^:U<^z^^'^'^ 


THE   TRANSFIGUR 
SACKCLOTH 

AND    OTHER    SERMONS 


liY    II  IK 

REV.   W.    L.    WATKINSON 

AUTiioK  oi-  "the  influence  oi-  scepticism  on  character' 


LONDON 
SAMPSON    LOW,    MARSTON    &    COMPANY 

LIMITED 

St.  ©unstan's  ?t?oiisc 
Fetter  Lane,  Fleet  Street,   K.C. 

1893 


LONDON  : 
l.NTED    BY    WJLLIAM   CLOWES   AND   SONS,    LliMlTED, 
STAMFORD   STREET   AND   CHARING   CROSS. 


TO   THE 

REV.  BENJAMIN    GREGORY,    D.D., 

WITH   xMUCH   RESPECT  AND   AFFECTION. 


PREFACE. 


The  discourses  contained  in  this  volume  were  delivered  in 
the  Central  Hall,  Manchester,  as  Noonday  Addresses.  This 
fact  will  account  for  their  somewhat  special  form.  That 
they  constitute  a  series,  may  explain,  and  excuse,  the 
repetitions  which  occur  in  them,  and  which  are  almost 
unavoidable  in  such  a  method  of  popular  treatment.  It 
may  be  thought  that  the  subjects  here  discussed  were  not 
the  most  appropriate  to  the  occasion  named ;  but  it  is  an 
evidence  of  the  deep  interest  taken  by  the  general  public 
in  the  discussion  of  Christian  doctrine,  that  these  dis- 
courses, and  many  others  of  similar  form  and  import^  were 
listened  to  from  week  to  week  by  considerable  congrega- 
tions. 


CONTENTS. 


THE   TRANSFIGURED   SACKCLOTH. 


PACE 


"  For  none  might  enter  into  the  king's  gate  clothed  with  sack- 
cloth."—Esther  iv.  2  ...  ...  ...  ...         I 

THE   GENESIS   OF   EVIL. 

*'  And  Jesus  said,  That  which  cometh  out  of  the  man,  that  defileth 
the  man.  For  from  within,  out  of  the  heart  of  men,  pro- 
ceed evil  thoughts,  adulteries,  fornications,  murders,  thefts, 
covetousness,  wickedness,  deceit,  lasciviousness,  an  evil  eye, 
blasphemy,  pride,  foolishness  :  all  these  things  come  from 
within,  and  defile  the  man." — Mark  vii.  20-23    ...  ...       23 

THE   LIMITATION   OF   EVIL. 

"  Behold,  thou  hast  spoken  and  done  evil  things  as  thou  couldest." 

— JER.  iii.  5  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...       45 

THE  TRANSFORMATION   OF   EVIL. 

"For  Satan  himself  is  transformed  into  an  angel  of  light." — 

2  CoR.  xi.  14  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...       65 

THE   PLEA   OF   EVIL. 

*'  And  there  was  in  their  synagogue  a  man  with  an  unclean  spirit ; 

and  he  cried  out,  saying,  Let  us  alone." — Mark  i.  23,  24  ...       S; 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF   EVIL. 

*'  But   evil  men  and  impostors    shall   wax   worse    and   worse, 

deceiving  and  being  deceived." — 2  Tim.  iii.  13     ...  ...     109 

THE   PUNISHMENT   OF   EVIL. 

*'  Thus  saith  the  Lord :  Deceive  not  yourselves,  saying,  The 
Chaldeans  shall  surely  depart  from  us  :  for  they  shall  not 
depart.     For  though  ye  had  smitten  the  whole  army  of  the 


X  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Chaldeans  that  fight  against  you,  and  there  remained  but 
wounded  men  among  them,  yet  should  they  rise  up  eveiy  man 
in  his  tent,  and  burn  this  city  with  fire."— Jer.  xxxvii.  9,  lo      129 

THE  CONSCIOUSNESS   OF  EVIL. 

"Therefore  by  the  deeds  of  the  law  there  shall  no  flesh  be 
justified  in  His  sight :  for  by  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of 
sin." — Rom.  iii.  20      ...  ...  ...  ...  .••     147 

THE   EXTINCTION   OF   EVIL. 

"Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  Nicodemus,  Verily,  verily,  I  say 
unto  thee,  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  God."— John  iii.  3  ...  ...  ...     169 

THE  LAW  OF   ANTAGONISM. 

"  From  His  right  hand  went  a  fiery  law  for  them.    Yea,  He  loved 

the  people." — Deut.  xxxiii.  2,  3  ...  ...  ...     189 

THE   LIMITATIONS   OF  THE   LAW  OF   ANTAGONISM. 

"  There  hath  no  temptation  taken  you  but  such  as  is  common  to 
man :  but  God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be 
tempted  above  that  ye  are  able  ;  but  will  with  the  tempta- 
tion also  make  a  way  to  escape,  that  ye  may  be  able  to  bear 
it." — I  Cor.  X.  13      ...  ...  ...  ...  ...     205 

THE   ELIMINATION    OF   THE   LAW   OF   ANTAGONISM. 

"For  the  Lord  shall  rise  up  as  in  Mount  Perazim,  He  shall  be 
wroth  as  in  the  valley  of  Gibeon,  that  He  may  do  His  work, 
His  strange  work  ;  and  bring  to  pass  His  act.  His  strange 
act." — Is  A.  xxviii.  21. 

"And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of  heaven  saying,  Behold, 
the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and  He  will  dwell  with 
them,  and  they  shall  be  His  people,  and  God  Himself  shall 
be  with  them,  and  be  their  God.  And  God  shall  wipe  away 
all  tears  from  their  eyes ;  and  there  shall  be  no  more  death, 
neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more 
pain  :  for  the  former  things  are  passed  away." — Rev.  xxi.  3,  4    221 

BiBLIOGKArHY     ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...      237 


T  II  E 
JRANSFIGURED    SACKCLOTH 


t — 14 


i/  "^  THE 

TRANSFIGURED    SACKCLOTH. 

•'For  none  might  enter  into  the  king's  gate  clothed  with  sackcloth." 
— Esther  iv,  2. 

The  sign  of  affliction  was  thus  excluded  from  the  Persian 
court  in  order  that  royalty  might  not  be  discomposed. 
The  monarch  was  to  see  bright  raiment,  flowers,  pageantry, 
smiling  faces  only ;  to  hear  only  the  voices  of  singing  men 
and  singing  women;  no  smatch  of  the  abounding  worm- 
wood of  life  was  to  touch  his  lip,  no  gHmpse  of  its  woe  to 
disturb  his  serenity.  The  master  of  an  empire  spreading 
from  India  to  Ethiopia  was  not  to  be  annoyed  by  a  passing 
^  shadow  of  mortality.  Now,  this  disposition  to  place  an 
interdict  on  disagreeable  and  painful  things  still  survives. 
Men  of  all  ranks  and  conditions  ingeniously  hide  from 
themselves  the  dark  facts  of  life — putting  these  aside, 
ignoring,  disguising,  forgetting,  denying  them.  Revelation, 
however,  lends  no  sanction  to  this  habit  of  passing  by  the 
tragedy  of  life  with  averted  face;  and  in  this  opening 
discourse  we  wish  to  show  the  entire  reasonableness  of 
revelation  in  its  frank  recognition  of  the  dark  aspects  of 
existence,     Christianity   is    sometimes    scouted    as    "the 


4  THE  TRANSFIGURED  SACRCL0Ti4. 

religion  of  sorrow,"  and  many  amongst  us  are  ready  to 
avow  that  the  Persian  forbidding  the  sackcloth  is  more  to 
their  taste  than  the  Egyptian  or  the  Christian  dragging  the 
corpse  through  the  banquet ;  but  we  confidently  contend 
that  the  recognition  by  Christ  of  the  morbid  phases  of 
human  life  is  altogether  wise  and  gracious. 

I.  We  consider,  first,  the  recognition  by  revelation  of 
siih     Sackcloth  is  the  outward  and  visible  sign  of  sin,  guilt, 
md  misery.     How  men  shut  their  eyes  to  this  most  terrible 
reality  —  coolly    ignoring,    skilfully    veiling,    emphatically 
/  denying  it !     "  The  heart  from  the  moment  of  its  first  beat 
/    instinctively  longs  for  the  beautiful.  .  .  .  We  strive  for  the 
I      right  and  the  true  :  it  is  circumstance  that  thrusts  wrong 
\    upon  us."  ^     What  is  popularly  called  sin  these  philosophers 
call  error,  accident,  inexperience,  indecision,  misdirection, 
imperfection,    disharmony ;    but   they   will   not    allow   the 
presence  in  the  human  heart  of  a  malign  force  which  asserts 
itself  against  God,  and  against  the  order  of  His  universe* 
That  principle  which  is  darkness  in  the  mind,  perverseness 
in  the  will,  idolatry  in  the  affections,  "  every  passion's  wild 
excess,  anger,  lust,  and  pride," — the  existence  of  any  such 
principle  they  absolutely  and  scornfully  deny.     There  is  no 
evil  in  the  universe,  all  is  good,  and  where  everything  is 
good  human  nature  is  still  the  best.     A  single  substance 
comprises  all  that   is,  and  no  place   is   left  for  that  pro- 
foundly divisive   and   destructive  element  called  sin ;    all 
that  we  have  to  do  is  to  descant  on  the  marvellous  love- 
liness of  the  world,  the  serene  harmony  of  the  universe, 
>rlnan's  love  of  the  true,  the  beautiful,  and  the  good.     Intel- 
lectual masters  like  Emerson  and  Renan  ignore  conscience; 
Ithey  refuse  to  acknowledge  the  selfishness,  the  baseness, 
'  Richard  Jeffeiies* 


THE  TRANSFIGURED    SACKCLOTH.  5 

the  cruelty  of  society;  they  are  deaf  to  the  groans  of 
creation;  they  smile,  and  expect  us  to  smile,  whilst  they 
clap  a  purple  patch  of  rhetoric  on  the  running  sores  of 
humanity.  No  sackcloth  must  pass  their  gate,  and  no 
craftsman  of  Ind  ever  wove  gossamer  half  so  delicate  and 
delightful  as  the  verbal  veil  with  which  these  literary  artists 
attempt  to  conceal  the  leprosy  of  our  nature. 

And  men  generally  are  willing  to  dupe  themselves 
touching  the  fact  and  power  of  sin ;  they  are  strongly  dis- 
inclined to  look  directly  and  honestly  at  that  inner  con- 
fusion of  which  we  are  all  more  or  less  conscious.  We 
willingly  acknowledge  our  transgression  of  the  higher  law, 
mat  we  do  the  things  we  ought  not  to  do,  and  leave  undone 
tW  things  that  we  ought  to  do ;  we  have  an  unpleasant 
feeling  that  all  is  not  right,  nay,  indeed,  that  something  is 
seriously  wrong;  but  we  do  not  unshrinkingly  acquaint 
ourselves  with  the  malady  of  the  spirit  as  we  should  at 
once  acquaint  ourselves  with  any  malady  hinting  itself  in 
the  flesh.  The  sackcloth  must  not  mar  our  shallow  hap- 
piness. Great  is  the  power  of  self-deception,  but  in  no 
other  direction  do  we  permit  ourselves  to  be  more  pro- 
foundly cheated  than  we  do  in  this.  In  the  vision  of 
[beautiful  things  we  forget  the  troubles  of  conscience,  as 
the  first  sinners  hid  themselves  amid  the  leaves  and  flowers 
lof  Paradise  ;  in  fashion  and  splendour  we  forget  our  guilty 
1  sorrow,  as  mediaeval  mourners  sometimes  concealed  their 
^  cerements  with  raiment  of  purple  and  gold ;  in  the  noises 
of  the  world  we  become  oblivious  of  the  interior  discords, 
as  soldiers  forget  their  wounds  amid  the  stir  and  trumpets 
of  the  battle.  With  a  busy  life,  a  studious  life,  a  gay  life, 
we  manage  to  forget  the  skeleton  of  the  heart,  rarely  per- 
mitting ourselves  to  look  upon  the  ominous  spectre  which 


6  THE   TRANSFIGURED   SACKCLOTH. 

some  way  or  other  has  entrenched  itself  within  us,  and 
which  is  the  bane  of  our  existence. 

Nevertheless,  sin  thrusts  itself  upon  our  attention.  The 
greatest  thinkers  in  all  ages  have  been  constrained  to 
recognize  its  presence  and  power.  The  creeds  of  all 
nations  declare  the  fact  that  men  everywhere  feel  the  bitter 
working  and  intolerable  burden  of  conscience.  And,  how- 
ever we  may  strive  to  forget  our  personal  sinfulness,  the 
cry  is  ever  being  wrung  from  us  in  the  deepest  moments 
of  life,  "  O  wretched  man  that  I  am  !  who  can  deliver  me 
from  the  body  of  this  death  ?  "  The  sense  of  sin  has  per- 
sisted through  changing  generations ;  it  is  the  burden  of 
experience  and  philosophy,  and  the  genius  of  the  race  has 
exhausted  itself  in  devising  schemes  of  salvation.  Walt 
Whitman  writes  of  the  animals — 

"  They  do  not  sweat  and  whine  about  their  condition, 
They  do  not  lie  awake  in  the  dark  and  weep  for  their  sins, 
They  do  not  make  me  sick  discussing  their  duty  to  God." 

Let  us  hope  that  the  countrymen  of  Milton  and  Bacon  will 
not  accept  this  dreary  drip  for  either  poetry  or  philosophy. 
^'^Cschylus,  Dante,  Shakespeare,  never  wrote  like  this.  They 
knew  of  truth,  justice,  purity,  and  love,  of  the  supreme  and 
eternal  law  of  righteousness ;  they  knew  that  man  alone  of 
all  this  lower  creation  is  subject  to  this  transcendental  rule ; 
they  knew  also  that  the  violation  of  this  highest  law  lay  at 
the  root  of  the  world's  mysterious  and  complex  suffering — 
in  other  words,  that  sin  was  the  secret  of  the  tragedy  of  life. 
The  beasts  are  happy  because  they  are  beasts ;  they  do  not 
lie  awake  in  the  dark  weeping  over  their  sins,  because  they 
have  no  sins  to  weep  over  ;  they  do  not  discuss  their  duty 
to  God,  they  do  it ;  whilst,  on  the  contrary,  men  are  un- 
happy becatise  being  subject  to  the  highest  law  of  all,  and 


THE   TRANSFICURKI)   SACKCLOTH.  J 

competent  to  fulfil  that  law  in  its  utmost  requirement,  they 
have  consciously  fallen  short  of  it,  wilfully  contradicted  it, 
We  cannot  accept  the  coat  of  many  colours,  whatever  the 
flatterers  may  say  ;  the  sackcloth  is  ours,  and  it  eats  our 
spirit  like  fire. 

Most  fully  does  Christ  recognize  the  great  catastrophe. 
Some  modern  theologians  may  dismiss  sin  as  "  a  mysterious 
incident"  in  the  development  of  humanity,  as  a  grain  of 
sand  that  has  unluckily  blown  into  the  eye,  as  a  thorn  that 
has  accidentally  pierced  our  heel,  but  the  greatest  of  etliical 
teachers  regarded  sin  as  a  profound  contradiction  of  that 
F'.ternal  Will  which  is  altogether  wise  and  good.  More 
than  any  other  teacher  Jesus  Christ  emphasized  the  actuality 
and  awfulness  of  sin  ;  more  than  any  other  has  He  in- 
tensified the  world's  consciousness  of  sin.  He  never 
attempted  to  relieve  us  of  the  sackcloth  by  asserting  oiir 
comparative  innocence  ;  He  never  attempted  to  work  into 
that  melancholy  robe  one  thread  of  colour,  to  relieve  it 
with  one  solitary  spangle  of  rhetoric.  Sin  was  the  burden 
of  the  life  of  Christ  because  it  is  the  burden  of  our  life. 
Christ  has  done  more  than  insisted  on  the  reality,  the 
odiousness,  the  ominousness,  of  sin — He  has  laid  bare  its 
principle  and  essence.  The  New  Testament  discovers  to 
us  the  mystery  of  iniquity  as  ungodliness ;  its  inmost 
essence  being  unbelief  in  God's  truth,  the  denial  of  His 
justice,  the  rejection  of  His  love,  the  violation  of  His  law. 
/The  South  Sea  Islanders  have  a  singular  tradition  to  account 
for  the  existence  of  the  dew.  The  legend  relates  that  in 
the  beginning  the  earth  touched  the  sky,  that  being  the 
golden  age  when  all  was  beautiful  and  glad ;  then  some 
dreadful  tragedy  occurred,  the  primal  unity  was  broken  up, 
the  earth  and  sky  were  torn  asunder  as  we  see  them  now, 


8  THE  TRANSFIGURED  SACKCLOTIL 

and  the  dewdrops  of  the  morning  are  the  tears  that  nature 
sheds  over  the  sad  divorce.  This  wild  fable  is  a  metaphor 
of  the  truth ;  the  beginning  of  all  evil  lies  in  the  alienation 
of  the  spirit  of  man  from  God,  in  the  divorce  of  earth  from 
heaven ;  here  is  the  final  reason  why  the  face  of  humanity  is 
wet  with  tears.  How  vividly  Christ  taught  that  all  our  fear 
and  woe  arise  out  of  this  false  relation  of  our  spirit  to  the 
living  God  !  Above  and  beyond  all,  Christ  recognizes  the 
sackcloth  that  He  may  take  it  away.  In  the  anguish  of  his 
soul  Job  cried,  *'  I  have  sinned ;  what  shall  I  do  unto 
TheC;  O  Thou  Preserver  of  men  ?  "  Christianity  is  God's 
full  and  final  answer  to  that  appeal.  In  Christ  we  have 
the  revelation  of  God's  ceaseless,  immeasurable,  eternal  love. 
In  Him  we  have  the  satisfaction  of  God's  sovereign  justice. 
Our  own  awakened  conscience  feels  the  difficulty  of  absolu- 
tion; it  demands  that  sin  shall  not  be  lightly  passed  over; 
it  wearies  itself  to  find  an  availing  sacrifice  and  atonement. 
^-  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world  !  "  In  Him,  too,  we  have  that  grace  which  brings  us 
into  accord  with  the  mind  and  government  of  God.  Christ 
reveals  to  us  the  divine  ideal  hfe;  He  awakens  in  us  a 
passion  for  that  life ;  He  leads  us  into  the  power  and 
privilege,  the  liberty  and  gladness,  of  that  life.  He  fills  our 
imagination  with  the  vision  of  His  own  divine  loveliness ; 
He  refreshes  our  will  from  founts  of  unfathomable  power ; 
He  fills  us  with  courage  and  hope ;  He  crowns  us  with 
victory.  "God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto 
Himself,  not  imputing  their  trespasses  unto  them."  Sin  Is 
ungodliness ;  Christ  makes  us  to  see  light  in  God's  light, 
fills  us  with  His  love,  attunes  our  spirit  to  the  infinite  music 
of  His  perfection.  Instead  of  shutting  out  the  signs  of 
woe,  Christ  followed  an  infinitely  deeper  philosophy  ;  He 


THE  TRANSFIGURED   SACKCLOTH.  Q 

arrayed  Himself  in  the  sackcloth,  becoming  sin  for  us  who 
knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  become  the  righteousness  of 
God  in  Him.  We  have  redemption  in  His  blood,  even  the 
forgiveness  of  sins ;  He  establishes  us  in  a  true  relation  to 
the  holy  God ;  He  restores  in  us  the  image  of  God ;  He 
fills  us  with  the  peace  of  God  that  passeth  understanding. 

Not  in  the  spirit  of  a  barren  cynicism  does  Christ  lay 
bare  the  ghastly  wound  of  our  nature,  but  as  a  noble 
physician  who  can  purge  the  mortal  virus  which  destroys 
us.  He  has  done  this  for  thousands  ;  He  is  doincj  it  now  ; 
in  these  very  moments  He  can  give  sweet  release  to  all 
who  are  burdened  and  beaten  by  the  dire  confusion  of 
^  nature.  Sin  is  a  reality ;  absolution,  sanctification,  peace, 
are  not  less  realities.  Christ's  gate  is  not  shut  to  the 
penitent,  neither  does  He  send  him  empty  away.  AVe  go 
to  Him  in  sackcloth,  but  we  leave  His  presence  in  purity's 
robe  of  snow,  in  honour's  stainless  purple,  in  the  heavenly 
Hue  of  the  holiness  of  truth.  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  God 
is  upon  Him,  that  He  may  give  to  the  mourners  in  Zion 
beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  the  garment 
of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness. 

n.  We  consider  the  recognition  by  revelation  of  i"^;r^?t'. 
Sackcloth  is  the  raiment  of  sorrow,  and  as  such  it  was 
interdicted  by  the  Persian  monarch.  We  still  follow  the 
same  insane  course,  minimizing,  despising,  masking,  deny- 
ing suffering.  Society  sometimes  attempts  this.  The 
affluent  entrench  themselves  within  belts  of  beauty  and 
fashion,  excluding  the  sights  and  sounds  of  a  suffering 
world.  "  Ye  that  put  far  away  the  evil  day,  and  cause  the 
seat  of  violence  to  come  near;  that  lie  upon  beds  of  ivory, 
and  stretch  themselves  upon  their  couches,  and  cat  the 
lambs  out  of  the  flock,  and  the   calves  out  of  the  midst 


lO  THE   TRANSFIGURED   SACKCLOTH. 

of  the  stall ;  that  chant  to  the  sound  of  the  viol,  and 
invent  to  themselves  instruments  of  music,  like  David  ; 
/that  drink  wine  in  bowls,  and  anoint  themselves  with  the 
j  chief  ointments  :  but  they  are  not  grieved  for  the  affliction 
of  Joseph."  So  do  opulent  and  selfish  men  still  seek  "to 
hide  their  heart  in  a  nest  of  roses."     Literature  sometimes 

I  follows  the  same  cue.  jQ^ethe  made  it  one  of  the  rules  of 
his  life  to  avoid  everything  that  could  suggest  painful  ideas, 
and  the  taint  of  his  egotism  is  on  a  considerable  class  of 
current  literature  which  serenely  ignores  the  morbid  aspects 
of  life.  Art  has  yielded  to  the  same  temptation.  The 
f  artist  has  felt  that  he  was  concerned  only  with  strength, 
l^eauty,  and  grace  ;  that  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  weakness, 
agony,  wretchedness,  and  death.  Why  should  sorrow  find 
perpetual  remembrance  in  art  ?  Pain  will  tear  and  mar 
our  bodies,  but  we  will  have  no  wrinkles  on  our  statues ; 
suffering  will  rend  our  heart,  but  we  will  have  no  shadows 
on  our  pictures.  None  clothed  in  sackcloth  might  enter 
the  gate  that  is  called  Beautiful. 

Most  of  us  are  inclined  to  the  sorry  trick  of  gliding  over 
painful  things.  We  resolutely  put  from  us  sober  signs  and 
serious  thoughts,  and  sometimes  are  really  angry  with  those 
who  exhibit  life  as  it  is,  and  who  urge  us  to  seek  reconcilia- 

(tion  with  it.  When  the  physician  prescribed  blisters  to 
Marie  Bashkirlseff  to  check  her  consumptive  tendency,  the 
vain  cynical  girl  wrote,  "  I  will  put  on  as  many  blisters  as 
they  like.  I  shall  be  able  to  hide  the  mark  by  bodices 
trimmed  with  flowers  and  lace  and  tulle,  and  a  thousand 
other  delightful  things  that  are  worn,  without  being  required  ; 
it  may  even  look  pretty.  Ah  !  I  am  comforted."  Yes,  by 
a  thousand  artifices  do  we  dissemble  our  ugly  scars,  some- 
tiipes  even  pressing  our  deep  misfortunes  into  the  service 


TIIK   TRANSl-lCUKED   SACKCLOTH.  II 

of  our  pride.  Many  of  the  fashions  and  diversions  of  the 
world  much  sought  after  have  httle  positive  attractiveness, 
but  the  real  secret  of  their  power  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
they  hide  disagreeable  things,  and  render  men  for  awhile 
oblivious  of  the  mystery  and  weight  of  an  unintelligible 
world. 

Nevertheless  suffering  is  a  stern  fact  that  will  not  long 
permit  us  to  sleep.  Some  have  taught  the  unreality  of 
pain,  but  the  logic  of  life  has  spoiled  their  plausible  philo- 
sophizing. A  man  may  carry  many  hallucinations  witli  him 
to  the  grave,  but  a  belief  in  the  unreality  of  pain  is  hardly 
likely  to  be  one  of  them.  The  laughing  philosopher  is 
quite  invincible  on  his  midsummer's  day,  but  ere  long 
f:itallty  makes  him  sad.  There  is  no  screen  to  shut  off 
permanently  the  spectacle  of  suffering.  ^Mien  Marie  ( 
1  Antoinette  passed  to  her  bridal  in  Paris,  the  halt,  the  ' 
lame,  and  the  blind  were  sedulously  kept  out  of  her  way, 
lest  their  appearance  should  mar  the  joyousness  of  her 
reception  ;  but,  ere  long,  the  poor  queen  had  a  very  close 
view  of  misery's  children,  and  she  drank  to  the  dregs 
the  cup  of  life's  bitterness.  Reason  as  we  may,  suppress 
tlie  disagreeable  truths  of  life  as  we  may,  suffering  will 
find  us  out,  and  pierce  us  to  the  heart.  Indeed,  despite 
our  dissimulations,  we  know  that  life  is  not  a  matter  of 
lutes,  doves,  and  sunflowers,  and  at  last  we  have  little 
patience  with  those  who  thus  seek  to  represent  it.  We 
will  not  have  the  philosophy  which  ignores  suffering;  witness 
the  popularity  of  Schopenhauer.  We  resent  the  art  which 
ignores  sorrow.  TnTr-lithas  no  pleasure  in  sin  and 
suffering,  in  torture,  horror,  and  death ;  but  on  its  palette 
must  lie  the  sober  colourings  of  human  life,  and  so  to-day 
the  most  popular  picture  of  the  ^yorld  is  the  ^' An^2;elus" 


12  THE  TRANSFIGURED  SACKCLOTH. 

of  Millet.  We  will  not  have  the  literature  that  ignores 
suffering.  '^  Humanity  will  look  upon^nHHIng  else  but  its 
old  sufferings.  It  loves  to  see  and  touch  its  wounds,  even 
at  the  risk  of  reopening  them.  We  are  not  satisfied  with 
poetry  unless  we  find  tears  in  it.''  We  will  not  have  the 
theology  whicli  ignores  sin  and  suffering.  The  preacher 
who  confines  his  discourses  to  pleasant  themes  has  a  meagre 
following ;  the  people  swifdy  and  logically  conclude  that  if 
life  is  as  flowery  as  the  discourse,  the  preacher  is  super- 
fluous. Foolish  we  may  often  be,  yet  we  cannot  accept 
this  Gethsemane  for  a  garden  of  the  gods ;  the  most  wilful 
lotus-eater  must  perforce  see  the  streaming  tears,  the  stain 
of  blood,  the  shadow  of  death.  Nature  in  the  full  swing 
of  her  pageantry  soon  forgets  the  wild  shriek  of  the  bird  in 
the  red  talons  of  the  hawk^  and  all  other  sad  and  tragic 
things,  but  humanity  is  compelled  to  note  the  blood  and 
tears  which  flow  everywhere,  and  to  lay  these  things  to 
Jieart. 

Christianity  boldly  recognizes  the  sad  element  in  human 
life.  Classic-religions  had  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  the 
sorrows  of  the  million ;  the  gods  reigned  on  Mount  Olympus, 
taking  little  note  of  the  griefs  of  mortals.  Far  otherwise  is 
it  with  the  Christian  revelation.  Here  the  whole  world  of 
suffering  is  contemplated,  and  everywhere  the  Deity  is  found 
intensely  and  sympathetically  interested  in  the  suffering 
race.  Christ  throws  the  master-light  on  the  problem  of 
pain.  He  makes  clear  to  us  the  origin  of  suffering.  He 
shows  that  it  does  not  spring  out  of  the  primitive  and 
essential  constitution  of  things,  that  it  is  not  necessary  and 
inevitable,  but  that  its  genesis  is  in  the  error  of  the  human 
will.  Christ  has  shown  us  the  connection  between  sin  and 
suffering,  discovering  suffering  as  the  direct  fruit  of  moral 


THE   TRANSFIGURED  SACKCLOTlL  13 

disobedience.  In  this  discovery  lies  the  beginning  of  hope. 
If  the  very  substratum  of  the  universe  had  been  vicious,  and 
suffering  inextricably  interwoven  with  the  constitution  of 
things,  there  would  have  been  no  ground  for  hope,  no 
possibility  of  redemption ;  but  if  suffering  originate  in  the 
error  of  the  human  will,  it  ceases  at  once  if  the  erring  will 
be  brought  into  sweet  correspondence  with  the  beautiful 
primitive  order  of  the  universe.  This  dawn  of  hope  in  the 
abyss  of  our  despair  brightens  into  day  when  we  learn 
the  power  of  Christ  to  establish  this  harmony.  Some  of 
the  ablest  thinkers  have  failed  to  solve  the  problem  of  the 
worldj  because  they  would  not  acknowledge  the  reality  of 
sin  ;  but  Christ  allows  the  reality  of  sin,  and  finds  in  it  the 
secret  of  disorder,  disease,  and  death.  Dealing  with  sin, 
He  dries  up  the  stream  of  sorrow  at  its  fountain.  By  the 
authority  of  that  word  which  speaks  the  forgiveness  of  our 
sin  ;  by  the  power  of  that  love  which  is  shed  abroad  in 
our  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  by  the  side  of  which 
selfishness,  the  principle  of  sin,  cannot  live ;  and  by  the 
delicate  discipline  of  that  redeeming  government  which 
subdues  us  into  accord  with  the  sweet  and  majestic  law 
of  the  world)  Christ  wipes  away  all  tears  from  the  face  of 
such  as  obey  Him. 

Christ  gives  us  the  noblest  example  of  sufiering.  So  far 
from  shutting  His  gate  on  the  sackcloth,  once  more  He 
adopted  it,  and  showed  how  it  might  become  a  robe  of 
glory.  He  Himself  was  pre-eminently  a  Man  of  sorrows ; 
He  exhausted  all  forms  of  suffering ;  touching  fife  at  every 
point,  at  every  point  He  bled ;  and  in  Him  we  learn  how 
to  sustain  our  burden  and  to  triumph  throughout  all  the 
tragedy.  In  His  absolute  rectitude,  in  His  confidence  in 
His  Father,  in  His  hours  of  prayer,  in  His  self-sacrificing 


14  THE   TRANSFIGURED   SACKCLOTH. 

regard  for  His  fellow-sufferers,  in  His  charity,  faith,  and 
patience,  we  see  how  the  heaviest  cross  may  be  borne  in 
the  sj^irit  of  victory.  We  learn  from  Him  how  divine  grace 
can  mysteriously  make  the  sufferer  equal  to  the  bitterest 
martyrdom ;  not  putting  to  our  lips  some  anodyne  cup  to 
paralyze  life,  but  giving  us  conquest  through  the  strength 
and  bravery  of  reason  in  its  noblest  mood,  through  faith  in 
its  sublimest  exercise,  through  a  love  that  many  waters 
cannot  quench  nor  the  floods  drown.  Poison  is  said  to  be 
extracted  from  the  rattlesnake  for  medicinal  purposes ;  but 
infinitely  more  wonderful  is  the  fact  that  the  suffering  which 
comes  out  of  sin  counterworks  sin,  and  brings  to  pass  the 
transfiguration  of  the  sufferer. 

Christ  teaches  us  how,  under  the  redemptive  govern- 
ment of  God,  suffering  has  become  a  subtle  and  magnificent 
process  for  the  full  and  final  perfecting  of  human  character. 
Science  tells  how  the  bird-music,  which  is  one  of  nature's 
foremost  charms,  has  arisen  out  of  the  bird's  cry  of  distress 
in  the  morning  of  time ;  how  originally  the  music  of  field 
and  forest  was  nothing  more  than  an  exclamation  caused 
by  the  bird's  bodily  pain  and  fear,  and  how  through  the 
ages  the  primal  note  of  anguish  has  been  evolved  and 
differentiated  until  it  has  risen  into  the  ecstasy  of  the  lark, 
melted  into  the  silver  note  of  the  dove,  swelled  into  the 
rapture  of  the  nightingale,  unfolded  into  the  vast  and  varied 
music  of  the  sky  and  the  summer.  So  Christ  shows  us  that 
out  of  the  personal  sorrow  which  now  rends  the  believer's 
heart  he  shall  arise  in  moral  and  infinite  perfection  ;  that 
out  of  the  cry  of  anguish  wrung  from  us  by  the  present 
distress  shall  spring  the  supreme  music  of  the  future. 

The  Persian  monarch  forbidding  sackcloth  had  forgotten 
that  consolation  is  a  royal  prerogative;  but  the  King  of 


THE   TRANSFIGURED    SACKCLOTH.  I  5 

kings  has  not  forgotten  this,  and  very  sweet  and  avaiUng  is 
His  sovereign  sympathy.  Scherer  recommends  "  amuse- 
ment as  a  comfortable  deceit  by  which  we  avoid  a 
permanent  tcte-d-tcte  with  reaUties  that  are  too  heavy  for  us." 
Is  there  not  a  more  excellent  way  than  this  ?  Let  us  carry 
our  sorrows  to  Christ,  and  we  shall  find  that  in  Him  they 
have  lost  their  sting.  It  is  a  clumsy  mistake  to  call 
Christianity  a  religion  of  sorrow — it  is  a  religion /^r  sorrow. 
Christ  finds  us  stricken  and  afflicted,  and  His  words  go 
down  to  the  depths  of  our  sorrowful  heart,  healing, 
strengthening,  rejoicing  w^ith  joy  unspeakable.  He  finds 
us  in  sackcloth ;  He  clothes  us  with  singing-robes,  and 
crowns  us  with  everlasting  joy. 

HI.  AVe  consider  the  recognition  by  revelation  of  death. 
We  have,  again,  adroit  ways  of  shutting  the  gate  upon  that 
sackcloth  wdiich  is  the  sign  of  death.  A  recent  writer 
dlows  that  Shakespeare,  Raleigh,  Bacon,  and  all  the 
Elizabethans  shuddered  at  the  horror  and  mystery  of  death  ; 
:he  sunniest  spirits  of  the  English  Renaissance  quailed  to 
:hink  of  it.  He  then  goes  on  to  observe  that  there  was 
something  in  this  fear  of  the  child's  vast  and  unreasoned 
dread  of  darkness  and  mystery,  and  such  a  way  of  viewing 
death  has  become  obsolete  through  the  scientific  and  philo- 
sophic developments  of  the  later  centuries.^  Walt  Whitman 
also  tells  us  "  that  nothing  can  happen  more  beautiful  than 
death,"  and  he  has  expressed  the  humanist  view  of  mortality 
in  a  hymn  which  his  admirers  regard  as  the  high-water 
mark  of  modern  poetry.  But  will  this  rhapsody  bear 
thinking  about?  Is  death  " delicate,"  " lovely  and  sooth- 
ing," "  delicious,"  coming  to  us  with ''serenades"  .^  Does 
death  "lave  us  in  a  flood  of  bliss ".^  Does  "the  body 
^  "  The  New  Spint." 


16  THE   TRANSFIGURED   SACKCLOTH. 

gralefully  nestle  close  to  death  "  ?     Do  we  go  forth  to  meet 

dcatli  "  with  dances  and  chants  of  fullest  welcome  "  ?     It  is 

vain  to  attempt  to  hide  the  direst  fact  of  all  under  plausible 

mctapliurs  and  rhetorical  artifice.     It  is  in  defiance  of  all 

history  that  men  so  write.     It  is  in  contradiction  of  the 

universal  instinct.     It  is  mockery  to  the  dying.     It  is  an 

outrage  upon  the  mourners.     The  Elizabethan  masters  were 

far  truer  to  the  fact  j  so  is  the  modern  sceptic  who  shrinks 

at  ''  the    black  and   horrible  grave."  ^     INIen   never  speak 

of  delicious  blindness,  of  delicious  dumbness,  of  delicious 

deafness,  of  delicious  paralysis  ;   and   death   is  all   these 

disasters  in  one,  all  these  disasters  without  hope.     No,  no, 

the  morgue  is  the  last  place  that  lends  itself  to  decoration. 

JDeath  is  the  crowning  evil,  the  absolute  bankruptcy,  the 

final  defeat,  the  endless  exile.     Let  us  not  shut  our  eyes 

Uo  this.     The  sceptic  often  tells  us  that  he  will  have  no 

"make-believe."     Let  us  have  no  "make-believe"  about 

death.     Let  us  candidly  apprehend  death  for  all  that  it  is 

of  mystery  and  bitterness,  and  reconcile  ourselves  to  it,  if 

reconciliation  be  possible.     If  we  are  foolish   enough  to 

shut  the  gate  on  the  thought  of  death,  by  no  stratagem  can 

we  shut  the  gate  upon  death  itself. 

AVithout  evasion  or  euphony  Christ  recognizes  the 
sombre  mystery.  The  fact,  the  power,  the  terror  of  death 
are  displayed  by  Him  without  reserve  or  softening.  And 
He  goes  to  the  root  of  the  dire  and  dismal  matter.  He 
shows  U3  that  death  as  we  know  it  is  an  unnatural  thing, 
that  it  is  the  fruit  of  disobedience,  and  by  giving  us  purity 
and  peace  He  gives  us  eternal  life.  The  words,  of  Luther, 
so  full  of  power,  were  called  "  half-battles  ; "  but  the  words 
of  Christ  in  their  depth  and  majesty  are  complete  battles, 
^  John  Morley,  ''Rousseau." 


THE    TRANSFIGURED    SACRCLOTII.  1/ 

ill  which  sin,  suffering,  and  death  are  finally  routed.  He 
attempts  no  logical  proof  of  immortality;  He  suppHes  no 
chemical  formula  for  the  resurrection ;  He  demonstrates 
immortality  by  raising  us  from  the  death  of  sin  to  the  life 
of  righteousness,  by  filling  our  soul  with  infinite  aspirations 
and  delights.  Here  is  the  proof  supreme  of  immortality. 
"Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  He  that  believeth  on  ^le, 
the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do  also  ;  and  greater  works 
than  these  shall  he  do  ;  because  I  go  unto  My  Father.'' 
The  moral  works  are  the  greater  works.  Wonderful  is  the 
stilling  of  the  sea,  the  healing  of  the  blind,  the  raising  of 
the  dead,  but  the  moral  miracles  of  our  Lord  express  a 
still  diviner  power  and  carry  with  them  a  more  absolute 
demonstration.  If,  therefore,  we  have  known  tlie  power  of 
Christ  delivering  our  soul  from  the  blindness,  the  paralysis, 
the  death  of  sin,  lifting  it  above  the  dust  and  causing  it  to 
exult  in  the  liberties  and  delights  of  the  heavenlies,  why 
should  we  think  it  a  thing  incredible  that  God  should  rai.-  e 
the  dead  ?  If  He  has  wrought  the  greater,  He  will  not  fail 
with  the  less.  Christianity  opens  our  eyes  to  splendid 
visions,  makes  us  heirs  of  mighty  hopes,  and  for  all  its 
prospects  and  promises  it  demands  our  confidence  on  the 
ground  of  its  present  magnificent  and  undeniable  moral 
achievements.  Its  predictions  are  credible  in  the  light  of 
its  spiritual  efiicacy.  "  And  if  Christ  be  in  you,  the  body 
is  dead  because  of  sin ;  but  the  Spirit  is  life  because  of 
righteousness.  But  if  the  Spirit  of  Him  that  raised  up 
Jesus  from  the  dead  dwell  in  you,  He  that  raised  up  Christ 
from  the  dead  shall  also  quicken  your  mortal  bodies  by  His 
Spirit  that  dwelleth  in  you."  Being  one  with  Christ  in  the 
power  of  purity,  we  are  one  with  Him  in  the  power  of 
an  endless  life.  ^  Death  has  its  temporary  conquest,  but 

c— 14 


1 8  THE  TRANSFIGURED   SACKCLOTH. 

grace  reigning  through  righteousness  shall  finally  purge  the 
last  taint  of  mortality.  Not  through  the  scientific  and 
philosophic  developments  of  later  centuries  has  the  sombre 
way  of  viewing  death  become  obsolete;  Christ  bringing  life 
and  immortality  to  life  has  brought  about  the  great  change 
in  the  point  of  view  from  which  we  regard  death,  the 
point  of  view  which  is  full  of  consolation  and  hope.  In 
Christ  alone  the  crowning  evil  becomes  a  coronation  of 
glory;  the  absolute  bankruptcy,  the  condition  of  an  in- 
corruptible inheritance;  the  final  defeat,  an  everlasting 
victory;  the  endl3ss  exile,  home,  home  at  last.  Once 
more,  by  boldly  adopting  the  sackcloth  Christ  has  changed 
it  into  a  robe  of  light.  "  That  through  death  He  might 
destroy  him  that  had  the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the 
devil." 

We  cannot  escape  the  evils  of  life ;  they  are  inevitable 
and  inexorable.  We  may  hide  from  our  eyes  the  signs  and 
sights  of  mourning ;  but  in  royal  splendour  our  hearts  will 
still  bleed;  wearing  wreaths  of  roses  our  heads  will  still 
ache.  A  preacher  who  complains  that  Christianity  is  "  the 
religion  of  sorrow,"  goes  on  to  predict  that  the  woes  of  the 
world  are  fast  coming  to  an  end,  and  then  the  sorrowful 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ  will  give  place  to  some  purer  faith. 
"  Through  the  chinks  we  can  see  the  light.  The  condition 
of  man  becomes  more  comfortable,  more  easy ;  the  hope  of 
m;.n  is  more  visible ;  the  endeavour  of  man  is  more  often 
crowned  with  success;  the  attempt  to  solve  the  darkest 
life-problems  is  not  so  desperate  as  it  was.  The  reformer 
meets  with  fewer  rebuffs;  the  philanthropist  does  not 
despair  as  he  did.  The  light  is  dawning.  The  great 
teachers  of  knowledge  multiply,  bear  their  burdens  more 
and  more  steadily ;  the  traditions  of  truth  and  knowledge 


THE  TRANSFIGURED  SACKCLOTH.  19 

are  becoming  established  in  the  intellectual  world.  It  is 
so ;  and  those  of  us  who  have  caught  a  vision  of  the  better 
times  coming  through  reason,  through  knowledge,  through 
manly  and  womanly  endeavour,  have  caught  a  sight  of  a 
Christendom  passing  away,  of  a  religion  of  sorrow  declining, 
of  a  gospel  preached  for  the  poor  no  longer  useful  to  a 
world  that  is  mastering  its  own  problems  of  poverty  and 
lifting  itself  out  of  disabling  misery  into  wealth  without 
angelic  assistance.  This  is  our  consolation ;  and  while  we 
admit,  clearly  and  frankly,  the  real  power  of  the  popular 
faith,  we  also  see  the  pillars  on  which  a  new  faith  rests, 
which  shall  be  a  faith,  not  of  sorrow,  but  of  joy."  ^  Now, 
the  deepest  sorrow  of  the  race  is  not  physical,  neither  is  it 
bound  up  with  material  and  social  conditions.  As  the 
(Scotch  say,  "  The  king  sighs  as  often  as  the  peasant ; "  and 
rhe  proverb  anticipates  the  fact  that  those  who  participate 
in  the  richest  civilization  that  will  ever  flower  will  sigh  as 
men  sigh  now.  When  the  problem  of  poverty  is  mastered, 
when  disease  is  extirpated,  when  a  period  is  put  to  all  dis- 
organization of  industry  and  misgovernment,  social  and 
political,  it  will  be  found  by  the  emancipated  and  enriched 
community  what  is  now  found  by  opulent  individuals  and 
privileged  classes,  that  the  secret  of  our  discontent  is 
internal  and  mysterious,  that  it  springs  from  the  godlessness, 
the  egotism,  the  sensuality,  which  theology  calls  sin.  But 
whatever  the  future  may  reveal,  all  the  sorrows  of  life  are 
upon  us  here  and  now ;  we  cannot  deny  them,  we  have 
constantly  to  struggle  with  them,  we  are  often  overwhelmed 
/by  irreparable  misfortune.  Esther  ''sent  raiment  to  clothe 
I  Mordecai,  and  to  take*  his  sackcloth  from  him  :  but  he 
received  it  not."  In  vain  do  men  offer  us  robes  of  beauty, 
'— iiJUithingham . 


20  THE   TRANSFIGURED   SACKCLOTH. 

chiding  us  for  wearing  the  colour  of  the  night ;  we  cannot 
be  deceived  by  flattering  words ;  we  must  give  place  to  all 
the  sad  thoughts  of  our  mortality  until  haply  we  find  a 
salvation  that  goes  to  the  root  of  our  suffering,  that  dries 
up  the  fount  of  our  tears. 

In  a  very  different  spirit  and  for  very  different  ends  do 
men  contemplate  the  dark  side  of  human  life.  The  cynic 
expatiates  on  painful  things — the  blot  on  life's  beauty,  the 
shadow  on  its  glory,  the  pitiful  ending  of  its  brave  shows — 
only  to  gibe  and  mock.  The  realist  lingers  in  the  dissect- 
ing chamber  for  very  delight  in  revolting  themes.  The 
pessimist  enlarges  on  the  power  of  melancholy  that  he  may 
justify  despair.  The  poet  touches  the  pathetic  string  that 
he  may  flutter  the  heart.  Fiction  dramatizes  the  tragic 
sentiment  for  the  sake  of  literary  effect.  Cultured  wicked- 
ness drinks  wine  out  of  a  skull,  that  by  sharp  contrast  it 
may  heighten  its  sensuous  delight.  "Whilst  restheticism 
dallies  with  the  sad  experiences  of  life  to  the  end  of 
intellectual  pleasure,  as  in  ornamental  gardening  dead 
leaves  are  left  on  ferns  and  palms  in  the  service  of  the 
picturesque.  But  Christianity  gives  such  large  recognition 
to  the  pathetic  element  of  Hfe,  not  that  it  may  mock  with 
the  cynic,  or  trifle  with  the  artist;  not  because  with  the 
realist  it  has  a  ghoulish  delight  in  horror,  or  because  with 
the  refined  sensualist  it  cunningly  aims  to  give  poignancy 
to  pleasure  by  the  memory  of  pain ;  but  because  it  divines 
the  secret  of  our  mighty  misfortune,  and  brings  with  it  the 
sovereign  antidote.  The  critics  declare  that  Rubens  had 
an  absolute  delight  in  representing  pain,  and  they  refer 
us  to  that  artist's  picture  of  the  "Brazen  Serpent"  in 
the  National  Gallery.  The  canvas  is  full  of  the  pain, 
the  fever,  the  contortions  of  the  wounded  and  dying ;    the 


THE   TRANSFIGURED   SACKCLOTH.  21 

writhing,  gasping  crowd  is  everything,  and  the  supreme 
instrument  of  cure,  the  brazen  serpent  itself,  is  small  and 
obscure,  no  conspicuous  feature  whatever  of  the  picture. 
The  manner  of  the  great  artist  is  so  f.ir  out  of  keeping  with 
the  spirit  of  the  gospel.  Revelation  brings  out  broadly 
and  impressively  the  darkness  of  the  world,  the  malady 
of  life,  the  terror  of  death,  only  that  it  may  evermore  make 
conspicuous  the  uplifted  Cross,  which,  once  seen,  is  death 
to  every  vice,  a  consolation  in  every  sorrow,  a  victory  over  / 
every  fear.  


THE    GENESIS    OF    EVIL. 


■<.AJUi 


^^ 


^■^ 


THE    GENESIS    OF    EVIL. 

"And  Jesus  said,  That  which  cometh  out  of  the  man,  that  defileth 
the  man.  For  from  within,  out  of  the  heart  of  men,  proceed  evil 
thoughts,  adulteries,  fornications,  murders,  thefts,  covetousness,  wicked- 
ness, deceit,  lasciviousness,  an  evil  eye,  blasphemy,  pride,  foolishness  : 
all  these  evil  things  come  from  within,  and  defile  the  man." — Mark 
vii.  20-23. 

Our  Lord  here  declares  the  human  heart  to  be  originative  \ 
that  the  vices  which  darken  the  world  take  their  rise  within 
us  ;  in  the  mystery  of  the  soul  He  teaches  us  to  seek  for 
the  mystery  of  iniquity.  Some  of  our  thinkers  find  man  to 
be  a  very  superficial  creature  indeed ;  they  treat  of  him  as 
of  the  simplest  bit  of  mechanism ;  to  them  he  is  an  organ 
of  whose  entire  contents  they  can  give  an  exact  and  com- 
plete specification  ;  nay,  to  change  the  figure,  he  is  nothing 
more  than  a  hollow  reed  moaning  or  melodic  just  as  it 
is  breathed  upon  by  the  fitful  wind.  Tiiey  find  nothing 
unaccountable  in  him,  nothing  mysterious  in  his  vices  or 
virtues ;  the  laws  of  matter  and  motion  explain  his  whole 
life,  character,  conduct,  doom  ;  there  is  no  problem  sug- 
gested by  man  that  is  more  insoluble  than  the  problems 
of  chemistry  and  astronomy.  But  He  who  knew  us  best 
saw  in  us  an  abyss  of  mystery,  an  originative,  inscrutable, 
intense,  supernatural  element,  and  in  this  element  He  finds 
the   genesis   of  that   evil   by   which  the  world  is  cursed. 


26  THE    GENESIS  OF  EVIL. 

Whilst  many  vainly  scrutinize  the  objective  world  for  the 
causes  of  evil,  Christ  looks  within  and  finds  the  secret  of 
our  woe  in  the  weakness  and  licence  of  our  heart. 

I.  Let^  us  observe  several  theories  of  the  origin  of  evil 
ivJiich  are  condemned  by  the  text. 

^    I.  The  theory  which  finds  the  origin  of  evil  in  the  physical 

world  is  thus  condemned.     Philosophers  and  theologians, 

alike  in  ancient  and  in  modern  times,  have  been  content 

to  consider  sin  as  a  physiological  question ;  as  a  matter  of 

blood,  tissue,  nerve ;  as  a  weakness,  a  confusion,  a  morbid 

condition    of    our   physical    constitution.      Very   popular, 

indeed,  in  contemporaneous  thought  is  the  doctrine  that 

moral  evil  is  only  a  manifestation  of  corporeal  evil ;  that 

the  morally  defective  must  be  placed  in  the  same  category 

I  with  the  maimed,  the  halt,  the  blind  ;  that  Byron's  deformed 

I  foot  must  be  coupled  with  the  disorders  of  his  mind.     Our 

Lord  directly  condemns  this  view.     Several  sins  mentioned 

by  Him  in  the  text  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the 

body,  and  when  fleshly  sins  are  specified  they  are  imputed 

to  interior  causes.     Christ  discovers  a  hidden  cause  within 

the  corporeal — determining  and  dominating  the  corporeal. 

The  body  and  its  members  may  prove  the  occasion  and 

furnish  the  instruments  of  transgression,  but  in  the  view  of 

our  Lord  all  sins  are  mystical  in  their  origin  and  essence  ; 

the  guilty  agent  is  still  the  living,  conscious,  free  spirit  of 

the  man  himself.     Very  differently  indeed  do  we  regard  our 

sins  and  our   bodily  infirmities.     For  the  former  we  are 

ashamed  of  ourselves,  we  scorn  ourselves  \  for  the  latter  we 

commiserate  ourselves.     We  are  to  be  pitied  for  the  blind 

eyes,  the  leprous  skin,  the  withered  hand,  the  weak  ankle — 

they  are  the  accidents  of  our  physical  life ;  but  adulteries, 

fornications,    murders,    thefts,    covetousness,    belong    to 


TiiE   GENESIS   OF   EVIL.  2^^ 

another  category  altogether — they  spring  out  of  thought, 
emotion,  will,  out  of  that  inner  kingdom  of  which  Heaven 
has  appointed  us  masters,  and  for  the  anarchy  of  which  it 
holds  us  responsible. 

Sin,  then,  can  never  be  treated  adequately  whilst  it  is 
treated  only  medicinally.  Our  scientists,  by  the  aid  of 
powerful  lenses,  intense  hghts,  exquisite  adjustments,  have 
succeeded  in  rendering  visible  the  germs  of  several  terrible 
maladies  which  decimate  us,  and  these  ardent  naturalists 
hope  ultimately  to  discover  germs  still  more  minute  and 
obscure.  But  can  any  one  believe  that  a  bacteria  of 
immorality  will  ever  be  revealed  by  the  microscope  as  the 
germs  of  disease  have  been  ?  Fever  and  cholera  germs, 
germs  of  consumption,  hydrophobia,  erysipelas,  have  been 
disclosed  by  the  fierce  light  of  modern  research ;  but  no 
one  will  suppose  that  the  germs  of  intemperance,  impurity, 
anger,  covetousness,  deceit,  pride,  murder,  foolishness,  will 
ever  be  thrown  on  the  screen,  and  an  antidote  be  found  for 
them  in  the  pharmacopoeia.  Oh,  if  it  were  thus  possible 
to  exhibit  the  secret  of  our  sins,  how  we  should  shudder  at 
the  sight  of  the  naked  human  heart,  and  shrink  from  the 
ghastly  things  which  nestle  there  !  But  such  a  spectacle 
is  not  possible,  and  we  are  sure  that  it  never  will  be.  The 
germs  of  moral  disease  are  in  the  soul  itself;  no  glass  of 
science  may  make  them  visible,  no  physician  may  deal  with 
them,  no  medicine  purge  them.  "  We  wrestle  not  with 
flesh  and  blood."  Every  man  is  tempted  when  he  is  drawn 
away  by  irregular  desire— the  subtle  motions  of  a  soul  false 
to  itself. 

V  Life  has  antagonists  we  little  know  ; 
I  Its  tangible  perils,  fates  by  land  or  sea, 
For  these  our  natural  functions  hold  the  key  ; 


28  THE    GENESIS   OF    EVIL. 

Assail  what  will,  the  postern-gates  of  sense 

Keep,  night  and  day,  their  vantage  of  defence  ; 

But  the  wild  brood  that  gender  in  the  brain, 

Delusions,  honeyed  lies,  hope's  legerdemain, 

What  antidote  can  salve  their  hidden  bane, 

Whence  spring  they  ?     There  be  phantom  powers  of  ill 

That  warp  the  credulous  fancy  to  the  will  ; 

Nay,  ofttimes,  in  this  earth  and  girdling  air 

Strange  mystery  works,  to  cozen  and  ensnare  ; 

Fair,  tricksome  shapes  that  lure  us  to  our  doom. 

Caught  in  the  iron  mesh  of  some  remorseless  loom." 

Christ  concerned  Himself  largely  with  the  body;  He 
knew  all  its  wards  and  windings;  He  knew  all  that  was 
meant  by  health  and  disease;  He  knew  the  secret  link 
that  unites  the  mind  with  its  organs ;  but  He  never  hints 
that  the  treatment  of  the  body  will  prove  the  healing  of  the 
soul.  His  testimony  lies  quite  the  other  way — that  through 
the  soul  lies  the  healing  of  the  body.  W'e  have  amongst 
us  a  school  of  physicians  who  maintain  the  virtue  of 
intellectual  and  aesthetic  medicines  in  physical  disease. 
They  insist  upon  the  power  of  imagination,  which  by  exalt- 
ing the  mind  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  object  excites  fresh 
nervous  energy,  and  so  checks  unhealthiness  of  feeling  and 
physique ;  upon  the  power  of  thought,  mental  activity  often 
assisting  in  cotmteracting  morbid  conditions ;  upon  the 
power  of  faith  and  hope,  a  bright  and  lofty  confidence 
often  working  undeniable  cures ;  upon  the  power  of 
resolution,  the  will  being  a  factor  in  the  failure  or  recovery 
of  health  whose  importance  it  is  not  easy  to  exaggerate. 
The  imaginative,  the  rational,  the  volitional,  they  maintain, 
are  of  far  greater  efficacy  in  the  preservation  and  restoration 
of  health  than  meJical  science  has  generally  recognized, 
and  they  predict  that  the  science  of  the  future  will  pay 
much  more  heed  to  these  spiritual  powers  and  activities. 


THE   GENESIS   OF   EVIL.  29 

Christ  lent  His  sanction  to  this  theory ;  through  the  mind 
He  healed  the  flesh.  But  the  New  Testament  lends  no 
sanction  to  the  theory  that  moral  and  bodily  evils  are 
identical,  and  that  faults  of  character  and  conduct  will  be 
cured  by  air,  soap,  diet,  and  medicine.  Deeper  than  the 
body  lies  the  ultimate  reason  of  sin ;  and  whilst  all  physical 
education  and  perfecting  are  in  the  right  direction,  the  hope 
of  moral  purity  and  beauty  lies  in  the  truth  that  pierces  the 
conscience,  the  ideal  that  kindles  the  imagination,  tlie  grace 
that  strengthens  the  will,  in  the  faith  which  works  by  love 
and  purifies  the  heart.  "  For  from  within,  out  of  the  heart 
of  men,  proceed  evil  thoughts."  First,  evil  thoughts  pro- 
ceeding from  the  depths  of  the  personality,  then  all  the 
dark  vices  and  crimes  which  afflict  the  world.  The  physician 
will  not  avail  here. 
^"2.  The  text  condemns  tJie  theory  li'liicJi  finds  flic  ort\ii-/Ji 

tof  evil  in  llie  inttUeetiial  nature  of  man,  Socrates  resolved 
-all  virtue  into  knowledge ;  all  vice  into  ignorance  and  folly. 
According  to  him  men  do  wrong  because  they  are  not  fully 
or  correctly  informed  of  the  consequences  of  their  actions  ; 
the  proper  antidote  for  transgression  being  enlarged  teach- 
^ing  touching  law,  judgment,  duty.  The  Greek  philosopher 
\  took  account  simply  of  the  intellect,  ignorance  being,  in  liis 
idea,  the  capital  deficiency.  And  this  view  of  sin  is  held 
at  this  hour  by  many  teachers  of  distinction.  "  The  evil  in 
the  world  is  the  result  of  bad  education  and  bad  institu- 
tions." ^  But  Christ  gives  another  explanation  of  sin.  Sin 
is  not  ignorance  ;  it  is  no  mere  blunder ;  it  is  no  maggot 
in  the  brain;  it  is  not  inconsequent  reasoning;  it  is  not 
undisciplined  judgment.  The  ultimate  cause  of  sin  is  in 
the  conscious  willing  spirit,  in  the  mystery  of  imagination, 
/i  John  Morley,  "  Diderot." 


30  THE  GENESIS  OF   EVIL. 


I' 


feeling,  sympathy,  desire.  The  Greek  found  the  genesis 
of  sin  in  the  uninstructed,  or  illogical  understanding ;  Christ, 
in  the  licentious  fancy,  the  wayward  passions,  the  perverse 
will,  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye,  and  the  pride 
of  life.  And  Christ's  deeper  view  is  borne  out  by  the  facts 
of  the  case,  for  with  the  fullest  knowledge  of  the  situation 
we  constantly  in  matters  of  conduct  do  the  things  that  we 
ought  not  to  do.  We  are  not  governed  by  what  we  know 
instinctively.  The  birds  of  the  air,  the  butterflies  of  the 
garden,  the  cattle  in  the  fields,  are  true  to  their  special 
instincts,  true  to  the  experience  of  their  ancestry  through 
many  generations ;  but  men  constantly  do  violence  to  the 
clearest  and  best  impulses  of  their  nature.  "What  they 
know  naturally  as  brute  beasts,  in  those  things  they  corrupt 
themselves."  We  are  not  governed  by  what  we  know 
historically.  That  experience  of  their  progenitors  which 
in  the  animal  world  passes  into  a  blind  instinct,  urging  the 
creature  into  paths  of  security  and  satisfaction,  becomes  in 
the  human  race  through  history  an  enlightened  principle 
of  action,  prompting  men  to  salutary  action,  warning  them 
against  courses  which  are  inconvenient  and  dangerous ;  yet 
we  continually  disregard  the  clearest  and  most  solemn 
conclusions  of  history.  We  are  not  governed  by  what  we 
know  logically.  Many  questions  of  duty  are  clear  to  our 
reason  as  the  light  of  day ;  but  in  actual  life  we  habitually 
disregard  the  strongest  and  best  persuasions  of  our  under- 
standing. We  are  not  governed  by  what  we  know  experi- 
mentally. In  certain  hours  we  set  aside  the  experience 
of  a  hfetime;  with  fingers  dreadfully  burnt  we  persist  in 
playing  with  the  fire.  We  are  not  governed  by  wliat  we 
know  supernaturally.  Multitudes  who  receive  the  light  of 
revelation  as  light  from  heaven  are  flagrantly  and  repeatedly 


THE   GENESIS   OF   EVIL.  3 1 

disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision.     No ;  sin  is  not  ignor-  I 
ance ;  it  is  not  lack  of  light,  but  hatred  of  light ;  and  it 
is  an  inexcusable  error  to  dwell  exclusively  on  the   intel- 
lectual conditions  of  human  conduct  and  ignore  the  great  i 
deep  of  the  human  bosom.  ,   Sin  is  fancy,  caprice,  passion,]/ 
desire,   egotism,   wilfulness,   asserting    themselves    against/ 
knowledge,  logic,  experience,  conviction,  conscience.  j 

And  as  sin  does  not  originate  in  any  lack  of  intellectual 
light,  or   power,  or  discipline,  so  the  world  will   not   be 
renovated  by  intellect.     It  is  as  clear  as  anything  can  be 
that   intellect   and   morals    are    disparate ;    superiority   of 
genius  does  not  imply  moral  excellence,  as  superiority  of 
goodness  does  not  imply  intellectual  force.    We  have  seen 
all  too  often  the  finest  artists  living  foulest  lives ;  oracles  of 
science  mastered  by  the  meanest  vices ;  the  most  brilliant 
lights  of  literature  obscured  by  the  vapours  and  choked  by 
the  ashes  of  sensual  life.     Culture  may  know  the  best  that 
has  been  said  and  written ;  but  to  do  the  best  when  you 
know  it,  is  the  real  problem  of  life,  and  this  problem  culture 
very  generally  fails  to  solve.     "  What  is  called  civilization 
/jr/drives  away  the  tiger,   but  breeds  the  fox."     The  Italian 
W  statesman,  Signor  Crispi,  in  a  great  speech  called  liberty 
V  and  science  "  the  religion  of  the  future ; "  but  if  the  creed 
of  the  future  contains  no  other  doctrines  than  these,  some 
very  dark  chapters  will  have  to  be  added  to  the  history  of 
the  world.     Education   is    all  in  the  right   direction,  but 
the  knowledge  of  letters,  science,  philosophy,  government, 
taste,  will  never  correct  that  deep  fault  of  our  nature  out 
of  which  springs  the  transgression  of  the  moral  law.     The 
wretchedness  of  the  world  is  created  by  men  who  ''  do  err 
in  their  heart,"  and  the  cure  for  this  is  not  in  mathematics, 
in  science,  or  in  art.     Intellectual  culture  does  not  touch 


32  THE   GENESIS   OF   EVIL. 

the  inertia,  the  blindness,  the  ingratitude,  the  selfishness, 
the  cruelty,  the  wilfulness,  which  bring  our  acutest  sense 
of  guilt,  our  bitterest  experiences  of  woe.  And  careful 
observers  are  beginning  to  see  that  the  redemption  of  the 
intelligence  is  not  the  redemption  of  the  heart;  that  the 
race  will  not  be  saved  by  intellect ;  and  that  it  is  easy  to 
expect  too  much  from  the  spread  of  knowledge.^  The 
sooner  we  all  come  to  this  conclusion  the  better.  It  will 
be  a  good  thing  every  way  when  society  quite  comprehends 
that  reason  alone  does  not  incite  people  to  right-doing; 
that  men  maybe  entirely  sane  and  exceptionally  intellectual 
and  yet  commit  the  most  atrocious  crimes ;  that  we  must 
believe  in  depravity  as  well  as  in  disease.  The  school- 
master does  splendid  service,  but  he  hardly  touches  the 
fundamental  evil. 

3.  The  text  condemns  tlie  tJieory  7i'Iiic/i  finds  tJie  ori^'ui 
of  evil  in  the  poivcr  of  cinunislance.  In  opposition  to  those 
who  hold  that  circumstances  determine  character,  our  Lord 
says,  No,  from  within,  out  of  the  heart,  come  the  evil 
things  of  human  conduct;  in  the  secret  bias  of  the  soul, 
not  in  unpropitious  surroundings,  do  evil  words  and  deeds 
find  generation.  Now  the  science  of  our  day  corresponds 
with  our  Lord's  teaching  on  the  inwardness  of  character. 
It  has  been  thought  that  the  theory  of  evolution  strengthens 
the  belief  in  the  power  of  circumstances  by  teaching  that 
the  special  form  and  colour  of  things  are  determined 
immediately  by  the  neighbourhood  in  which  they  spring. 
But  evolution  does  not  teach  any  such  thing.  So  far  as 
plants  are  concerned,  it  is  recognized  that  their  character- 
istics are  from  within — they  vary  primarily,  not  because  of 
something  special/in  their  locality,  but  from  a  mysterious 
I  ^^^Xbornton.  "  Opposites." 


THE   GENESIS   OF   EVIL.  33 

innate  tendency  to  variation  for  which  no  scientist  can 
account.  "  External  conditions  can  never  occasion  an 
inheritable  change  of  form,  whether  advantageous  or  the 
contrary;  can  neither  determine  the  development  of  an 
organ  nor  its  abortion.  Structural  peculiarities,  advan 
tageous  and  disadvantageous,  present  themselves  in  indi- 
vidual varieties,  quite  independently  of  any  direct  influence 
of  external  conditions."  ^  From  within,  out  of  the  secret 
heart  of  the  plant,  comes  its  special  size,  shape,  colour, 
markings,  perfume.  And  with  respect  to  animal  organisms 
it  is  the  same.  The  old  evolutionists  feeling  strongly  the 
selective  power  of  circumstances,  yet  felt  constrained  to 
recognize  deep  interior  causes  as  determining  the  changes 
which  take  place  in  living  things.  Darwin  writes  Huxley 
thus  :  "  You  have  most  cleverly  hit  on  6ne~"pomt,  which 
has  greatly  troubled  me ;  if,  as  I  think,  external  conditions 
produce  little  direct  effect,  what  the  devil  determines  each 
particular  variation  ?  What  makes  a  tuft  of  feathers  come 
on  a  cock's  head,  or  moss  on  a  moss-rose  ?  "  ^  This  passage 
is  instructive  as  it  shows  the  utility  of  the  orthodox  creed 
in  giving  men  something  to  swear  by,  but  it  is  specially 
instructive  as  showing  how  clearly  Darwin  recognized  the 
mysterious  interior  force  as  determimng^the  organization. 
Later  evolutionists  have  gone  further  still  in  the  same 
direction,  holding  that  any  changes  a  creature  may  exhibit 
were  first  in  the  germ  out  of  which  the  creature  has  sprung, 
and  that  the  germinal  matter  itself  was  determined  by 
mental  rather  than  by  physical  causes.  The  germ  deter- 
mines the  organism,  the  soul  fashions  the  germ ;  we  must 
go  behind  physical  causes  into  a  region  of  antecedent 
psychical  causes,  the  ultimate  reason  for  the  characteristics 
P  Kerner,  "Flower^."  '  ^^  Life  and  LetteA." 


( 


34  THE  GENESIS  OF  EVIL. 

of  a  creature  being  found  in  the  imaginative  and  emotional 
condition  of  its  parents.  It  is,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  pro- 
foundly interesting  to  see  our  scientists  in  their  search  for 
origins,  turning  from  the  exterior,  the  tangible,  the  mechanical, 
that  they  may  gaze  into  those  obscure  and  mysterious 
depths  which  open  within  even  the  lowest  organism.  Christ 
taught  that  human  character  is  a  question  of  soul  and  not 
of  situation.  He  taught  us  to  look  into  the  infinite  depths 
of  the  heart  for  the  reasons  of  good  and  evil  doing.  Our 
text,  with  an  authority  not  easily  resisted,  teaches  that  the 
evil  of  life  is  not  attributable  to  superficial  unhappy  exter- 
nalisms ;  it  is  the  result  of  an  unchastened  imagination, 
of  a  lawless  mind,  of  licentious  emotion,  of  misplaced 
admiration,  of  false  ambition ;  the  outgoing  of  an  indolent, 
an  egotistic,  a  base  soul.  The  physical  world  unfolds  from 
within;  the  character  of  man  is  but  the  visibility  of  his 
thought. 

And  sin  will  not  be  cured  by  circumstances.  God  forbid 
that  we  should  speak  lightly  of  those  who  seek  to  improve 
the  race  through  the  improvement  of  its  conditions.  We 
reverence  them.,  we  hail  them  as  fellow-workers  in  the  same 
magnificent  cause.  But  if  we  are  to  bless  men  effectually, 
we  must  get  to  the  fountain-head  of  their  sorrows — the 
f  thought  and  imagination  of  their  hear^; — As  Jer-emy  Taylor 
^  says,  "  You  cannot  cure  the  colic  by  brushing  a  matTs 
clothes."  No  bettering  of  the  lot  of  the  individual  will 
necessarily  make  his  spirit  sweet,  contented,  pure.  Neither 
will  the  propitious  environment  make  the  virtuous  and 
happy  community.  Eden,  Sodom,  Canaan,  proved  this 
in  the  old  world,  and  there  are  plenty  of  proofs  of  it  in 
the  modern  world.  An  eloquent  traveller  recently  wrote, 
''I  thought  of  our  modern   Radicals,  of  our  sentimental 


THE  GENESIS   OF  EVIL.  3$ 

believers  in  the  natural  goodness  of  man,  and  of  what  a 
lesson  these  people  might  learn  from  Cyprns.     Here  were 
no    wicked    plutocrats,   no    hereditary   aristocracy.      The 
merchant  princes  and  the  nobles  of  the  Middle  Ages  had 
gone.     They  had  not  left  even  the  memory  of  their  names 
behind,  and  modern  times  had  produced  no  class  to  replace 
them.     The  larger  part  of  the  population  owned  the  larger 
part   of  the   soil.     They   worked   by   themselves   and   for 
themselves.      They  had  no  example  except  their  own  to 
corrupt  them,  and  no  oppression  except  that  of  the  neces- 
sary tax-gatherer.     They  lived,  in  fact,  under  the  Radical's 
ideal  conditions,  and  yet  crimes,  which  included  crimes  of ' 
the  most  brutal  and  degraded  character,  occurred  amongst 
them  with  a  frequency  not  to  be  matched  in  any  country 
of  aristocratic  and  capitalistic  Europe.     Surely  this  in  itself 
is  enough  to  show  how  false,  or  at  best  how  insufficient,  is 
the  theory,  that  the  wickedness  of  the  many  is  caused  by 
the  artificial  oppressions  of  the  few.V     It  is  easy  to  expect 
tioo  much  from  politics ;  it  is  easy  to  expect  too  much  from 
the  absence  of  politics.     The  nature  of  the  race  will  assert 
itself,  and,  whatever  the  exterior  conditions  may  be,  display 
its   weakness.      Many   reformers   proceed    on    the    bland 
supposition  that  man  at  last  is  a  lover  of  the  light,  a  lover 
of  equity,  a  lover  of  love,  a  lover  of  purity,  and  granted 
fair  play  he  will  soon  show  how  little  need   there  is  of 
government  and  law  ;  change  the  conditions  and  the  poison- 
berry  of  the  wilderness  becomes  a  luscious  peach,  so  wiser 
and  more  generous  conditions  will  reveal  the  innate  strength 
and  sweetness  of  our  nature.     This  is  altogether  contrary 
to  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ.     He  declares  that  men  love 
darkness  rather  than  light ;  that  they  lack  conscience  ;  that 
^  Mallock,  "The  Enchanted  Isle." 


36  THE  GENESIS  OF   EVIL. 

they  put  lust  in  the  place  of  love ;  that  whilst  compelled  to 
admire  the  noble  they  violate  it ;  that  whilst  compelled 
to  praise  the  beautiful  and  the  sacred  they  profane  them ; 
that  in  presence  of  the  higher  and  the  lower,  they  de- 
liberately prefer  the  lower  and  delight  in  it.  Here  is  the 
corruption  that  comes  before  all  law,  example,  education, 
custom,  government;  and  this  corruption  no  felicity  of 
circumstance  may  cure.  As  the  evil  of  the  world  will  not 
be  cured  by  the  physician,  nor  by  the  schoolmaster,  neither 
will  it  be  cured  by  the  statesman. 

At  the  present  moment  there  are  two  theories  in  the 
field  to  explain  the  origin  of  contagious  diseases — the 
parasitic  theory,  and  the  theory  of  the  innate  character 
of  diseases.  The  parasitic  theory  assumes  that  diseases 
are  originated  by  microbes  first  diffused  in  the  atmosphere, 
and  then  taken  into  the  system  by  the  air  we  breathe,  the 
water  we  drink,  the  things  we  touch.  The  advocates  of 
the  innate  character  of  diseases  hold,  on  the  contrary,  that 
the  disease  is  spontaneously  developed  in  the  patient ;  the 
first  cause  is  in  morbid  changes  which  are  purely  chemical, 
changes  produced  in  the  actual  substance  of  the  tissues  and 
secretions  without  any  external  intervention  of  microbes ; 
the  microbes,  where  they  really  exist,  being  only  a  secondary 
phenomenon,  a  complication,  and  not  the  scientific  cause 
which  actually  determines  the  disease.  Now,  whatever 
may  be  the  exact  truth  in  this  biological  controversy,  it 
is  evident  that  the  first  cause  of  such  disease  must  be 
sought  in  a  defect  of  life,  a  feebleness,  a  certain  untoward 
disposition  and  receptivity  in  the  organism  itself.  The 
/phylloxera  devastates  the  French  vineyards  because  the- 
l  vines  have  been  exhausted  by  excessive  cultivatiorT^^uber- 
\  culosis  fastens  upon  man  because  of  obscure  conditions  of 


THE   GENESIS   OF   EVIL.  37 

bodily  weakness  and  susceptibility;  vigorous  plants  and 
robust  constitutions  defying  the  foreign  destructive  bodies 
which  may  fill  the  air — extrinsic  influence  and  excitement 
counting  for  Httle  where  the  intrinsic  tendency  does  not 
exist.  Revelation  assumes  that  the  man  morally  occupies 
much  the  same  position.  Environment  brings  the  oppor- 
tunity for  evil,  the  solicitation  or  provocation  to  evil,  so 
far  do  evil  communications  corrupt  good  manners ;  but 
the  first  cause  of  all  must  be  found  in  the  heart  itself,  in 
its  lack  of  right  direction,  sympathy,  and  force;  in  a  word, 
the  scientific  cause  of  sin  is  the  spiritual  cause. 

Our  Lord,  then,  has  nothing  to  say  about  the  beauty 
of  human  nature.  The  greatest  Moralist  of  all  found  the 
instinctive  propensity  to  evil  in  the  human  heart.  And 
how  prolific  that  propensity,  according  to  the  showing  of 
the  Lord  !  What  a  catalogue  we  have  here  !  ''  Thoughts 
that  are  evil,  adulteries,  fornications,  murders,  thefts, 
covetousness,  wickedness,  deceit,  lasciviousness,  malignant 
glances,  railing,  pride,  unreasoning  folly,  irrational  con 
duct."  And  this  enumeration  is  suggestive  only,  not 
exhaustive.  An  American  naturalist  tells  us  that  thb^ 
human  brain  is  full  of  birds.  The  song-birds  might  all 
have  been  hatched  in  the  human  heart,  so  well  do  they 
express  the  whole  gamut  of  human  passion  and  emotion 
in  their  varied  songs.  The  plaintive  singers,  the  soaring 
ecstatic  singers,  the  gushing  singers,  the  inarticulate 
singers — robin,  dove,  lark,  thrush,  mocking-bird,  nightin- 
gale,— all  are  expressive  of  human  emotion,  desire,  love, 
sadness,  aspiration,  glee.  Very  beautiful,  indeed,  is  it  to 
find  our  brain  full  of  the  sweet  minstrels  of  the  air ;  but, 
alas !  Christ  gives  a  sadder  view  of  our  heart,  showing  it 
to  be  ''  the  hold  of  every  foul  spirit,  and  a  cage  of  every 


/ 


38  THE  GENESIS  OF  EVIL. 

unclean  and  hateful  bird."  Fierce  hawk,  croaking  raven, 
ravenous  vulture,  obscene  birds,  birds  of  discord,  birds  of 
darkness,  birds  of  tempest,  birds  of  blood  and  death, — these 
are  all  typical  of  the  heart's  base  passions ;  these  all  brood 
and  nestle  within,  and  fly  forth  to  darken,  pollute,  and 
destroy.  And  the  Master  is  not  here  speaking  of  some 
hearts,  but  of  the  human  heart  generally.  In  the  woods  we 
find  occasionally  a  bird  with  a  false  note,  in  the  fields  a 
misshapen  flower,  yet  beauty  and  music  are  the  prevailing 
characteristics  of  the  landscape  \  but  stepping  into  society, 
the  universal  discord  and  misery  declare  the  common 
radical  defect  of  our  nature.     We  consider — 

II.  Chris fs  treatment  of  eviL  When  a  young  man 
consulted  John  Newton  touching  the  origin  of  evil,  the 
divine  replied,  "  That  he  was  more  anxious  to  get  sin  out 
of  the  world  than  to  know  how  it  ca,me  into  the  world." 
But  really  this  saying  is  not  so  wise  as  it  seems,  for  to 
know  where  sin  takes  its  rise  is  of  first  consequence  in 
attempting  its  extirpation.  In  the  soul  Christ  declared 
that  it  took  its  origin,  and  in  the  soul  Christ  sought  to 
deal  with  it — supplying  a  spiritual  antidote  for  a  spiritual 
plague.  He  sets  before  us  the  highest  thoughts  and 
ideals ;  He  creates  within  us  strong  faith  in  these  thoughts 
and  ideals  j  He  strengthens  us  in  the  inner  man  that  we 
may  scale  the  heights  thus  unveiled.  He  resolutely  sets 
Himself  to  instruct  the  spiritual  understanding,  to  captivate 
the  moral  imagination,  to  purify  the  heart  with  noble 
passions,  to  invigorate  the  will,  to  create  a  conscience,  to 
fill  the  soul  with  divine  thoughts,  affinities,  and  aspirations. 
Christ  was  a  great  moral  idealist.  He  came  with  neither 
sword  nor  sceptre;  He  had  nothing  new  to  suggest  in 
social  or  political  science  ;  He  did  not  intermeddle  with 


THE  GENESIS  OF  EVIL,  39 

the  structure  and  government  of  communities ;  He  sought 
to  effect  nothing  by  scholarship  and  philosophy.  For  once 
Renan  spoke  truly  when  he  said,  ^'  Jesus  taught  nothing  but 
Himself."  Nothing  about  art,  literature,  philosophy,  arms, 
industrialism,  government ;  He  set  before  the  race  His 
own  rich  Personality  overflowing  with  love,  luminous  with 
truth,  pulsating  with  moral  power,  knowing  that  thus  only 
could  the  secret  fatal  wound  of  humanity  be  reached  and 
healed,  and  all  things  be  brought  into  a  state  of  health  and 
harmony.  The  Cross  is  the  symbol  of  pure  thought ;  it  is 
the  truth,  love,  righteousness  of  God,  appealing  to  the 
leason,  heart,  and  conscience  of  the  race.  The  Nev/ 
Testament  is  filled  with  this  idea — the  renewal  of  all  things 
through  the  renewal  of  the  soul.  By  distrust  we  fell,  by 
faith  we  rise ;  ruined  by  a  look,  by  a  look  must  we  be  made 
whole;  by  the  vision  of  the  beauty  of  forbidden  things 
were  we  made  disobedient,  by  the  vision  of  the  beauty  of 
noble  things  must  we  be  made  righteous ;  through  a  false 
heart  we  were  betrayed,  through  a  heart  of  love  will  the  , 
lost  Paradise  be  restored.  The  epic  of  life  is  the  epic  of  ! 
the  heart.  ^'^'      ——-«-=----^--*----'- ■-----■---*-' 

I.  We  must  remember  the  inwardness  and  spirituality 
of  Christ's  treatment  of  sin  in  the  ctiltui-e  of  our  personal 
life. 

We  see  here  the  necessity  for  that  regeneration  upon 
which  Christ  insists.  The  heart  is  the  fountain  of  evil ; 
it  must  be  changed  and  become  the  fountain  of  good. 
*'  Marvel  not  that  I  said  unto  you.  Ye  must  be  born  again.'^ 
It  is  not  a  new  brain  that  we  need ;  the  most  logical  intel- 
lect will  not  save  us.  It  is  not  new  members  that  we  need ; 
new  eyes,  or  hands,  or  lips,  or  tongue,  or  feet,  will  not 
avail  us.     It  is  not  new  conditions  that  we  need  ;  the  most 


40  THE  GENESIS  OF   EVIL. 

serene,  imexacting,  ideal  states  of  actual  life  will  not  make 
us  virtuous  or  prove  us  to  be  so.  We  need  all  the  faculties 
and  powers  of  our  inward  being  renewing.  We  need  our 
conscience  to  bear  us  witness  in  the  Holy  Ghost;  our 
imagination  to  eye  supremest  ideals  of  light  and  beauty, 
and  urge  its  flight  thitherto  as  the  eagle  seeks  the  sun ;  our 
will  by  virtue  of  a  divine  strengthening  to  become  im- 
perative and  invincible ;  our  affections  to  be  filled,  domi- 
nated by  the  sovereign  love  of  God.  Nothing  but  this  new 
heart  and  right  spirit  will  meet  the  case.  The  regeneration, 
of  the  man  himself  is  the  supreme  burden  of  revelation. 
Brethren,  it  is  for  want  of  appreciating  this  fact  that  the 
moral  life  of  many  is  so  unsatisfactory  to  them.  They 
seek  to  reform  themselves,  to  educate  themselves  into  true 
righteousness ;  but  they  have  never  gone  back  to  the  heart, 
and  known  that  out  of  its  humbling,  warming,  purifying, 
are  the  issues  of  life.  Let  us  begin  here,  and  all  will  be 
well.  Out  of  the  heart  shall  proceed  good  thoughts,  and 
out  of  them  all  fair  and  noble  characteristics  and  actions. 
Hear  the  words  of  the  Lord,  through  the  lips  of  the 
prophet,  "  Make  you  a  new  heart  and  a  right  spirit." 
Hear  the  voice  of  the  Lord  Himself,  "  Now  ye  are  clean 
through  the  word  which  I  have  spoken  unto  you." 

And  the  perfecting  of  character  throughout  must  be  from 
within — must  be  worked  out  in  sanctified  thought,  feeling, 
and  will.  Says -Jn rob  J^oehme  in  a  deep  passage,  "  All 
now  depends  on  what  I  set  my  imagination  upon."  Setting 
his  imagination  upon  the  kingdom  of  God,  upon  the 
highest  objects,  patterns,  and  callings  of  the  spiritual 
universe,  the  behever  conquers  successively  all  selfishness 
and  sensuality,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God.  All 
depends   upon   what  we  set  our   imagination — upon  the 


THE  GENESIS  OF   EVIL.  4I 

ideals  we  choose,  upon  the  vivid  realization  of  those  ideals, 
upon  the  daily  striving  toward  those  ideals,  upon  the 
faithful  confiding  surrender  of  the  soul  to  those  ideals.  Sin 
is  to  be  attacked  indirectly  rather  than  immediately  ;  in  the 
abstract  rather  than  the  concrete;  in  the  thought  rather 
than  in  the  act  and  habit.  Let  no  man  think  lightly  of  the 
power  of  thought  in  the  perfecting  of  character.  "Set 
your  thoughts  on  things  which  are  above,  not  on  things 
which  are  on  the  earth."  Very  lightly  do  some  think  of 
the  energy  of  thought,  and  they  permit  their  mind  to 
contemplate  low  and  stained  scenes  in  the  realm  of  fiction, 
when  they  would  shrink  with  horror  from  a  similar  contact 
with  contagion  in  the  physical  sphere. 

"  Then  let  your  secret  thoughts  be  fair  ; 
I     They  have  a  vital  part  and  share 
\     In  shaping  worlds,  and  moulding  fate  ; 
God's  system  is  so  intricate." 

Let  us  set  our  thought  on  Christ,  who  is  the  Sum  of  all 
beauty,  and  that  beauty  shall  dawn  in  us.  Let  no  man 
seeking  holiness  think  lightly  of  the  power  of  sympathy. 
We  see  what  wonderful  effects  sympathy  will  produce  in 
the  body,  and  it  accomplishes  marvellous  transformations 
of  character.  Let  no  man  bent  on  the  full  sanctification  of 
life  think  lightly  of  the  power  of  will.  This  is  the  will  of 
God,  even  our  sanctification,  and  when  we  will  the  same 
end  a  power  works  in  us  that  nothing  may  withstand.  He 
who  in  the  culture  of  character  despises  love,  sympathy, 
trust,  reverence,  hope,  and  trusts  everything  to  an  austere 
discipline  of  the  outer  life,  is  like  the  boor  who  despises 
the  imponderables  and  who  seeks  to  do  all  the  work  of  the 
world  with  handspikes  and  crowbars.  He  who  despises 
sentiment,  and  he  who   despises  the  imponderables,  may 


42  THE  GENESIS  OF   EVIL. 

seem  practical  men,  but  both  ignore  the  master-forces  of 
the  world. 

2.  We  must  remember  the  spirituality  of  Christ's  treatr 
ment  of  sin  as  we  attempt  the  renovation  of  the  world.     It 
is  the  habit  of  some  reformers  to  think  very  slightingly  of 
what   they  are  pleased  to  consider  the  sentimentalism  of 
Christianity.     But  was  not  Christ  right  in  trusting  every- 
thing to  the  power  of  sanctified  thought  and  feeling  ?     The 
history   of  the   world  is   the    history    of   thought.      The 
catastrophe   of  the   race  arose  in  thought — in  a  thought 
from  beneath.     *' And  when  the  woman  saw."     Out  of  that 
look,    imagination,    desire,    arose  the   vast   tragedy.     The 
great  redeeming  system  began  in  a  thought — in  a  thought 
from  above.     "  It  came  into  his  heart  to  visit  his  brethren." 
Out  of  that  generous  thought  arose  the  whole  magnificent 
history  of  Israel.     Nothing  seems  of  less  consequence  than 
a  thought — so  silent,  swift,  subtle,  is  it,  and  yet  in  that 
lightning-flash  of  the  brain,  in  that  throb  of  the  heart,  in 
that  fiat  of  the  will,  in  that  airy  nothing,  all  the  vast  things 
of  man's   history,   its   grandeur   and   its  grief,  have  their 
birth.     The  heart  of  man  is  the  gateway  of  strange  worlds, 
and  through  it  are  ever  gUding  thoughts  fraught  with  infinite 
consequence  to  the  individual  and  to  the  race.     Let  not 
the    Church  of   God   abandon   that  appeal  to  reason,  to 
conscience,  to  the  hearts  of  men,  which  is  the  true  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel  of  Christ.     Let  the  missionary  still  go  to 
the  heathen  chiefly  relying  upon  the  Book  that  is  in  his 
hand.     To  appeal  to  the  soul  with  lofty  truths  may  seem 
remote  and  doubtful,  and  we  may  be  tempted  to  try  more 
tangible  instruments  and  shorter  cuts ;  but,  in  the  end,  the 
method  of  Christ  and  of  His  apostles  will  prove  the  most 
effective.     If,   as  EJata_said,  a  change  in  the  music  of  a 


THE  GENESIS  OF  EVIL.  43 

State  will  be  followed  by  changes  in  its  constitution ;  if,  as 
DarvviiLiaid  down  the  law,  the  habit  of  thought  transforms 
the  physical  habit ;  shall  not  blessed  national  purifications 
and  transformations  follow  the  setting  forth  of  the  eternal 
truths,  the  commanding  ideals,  the  conquering  energy  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ  ?  The  real  springs  from  the  ideal ; 
the  ideal  ultimately  remodels  the  man,  remodels  the  world. 


THE    LIMITATION    OF    EVIL. 


C*'    J^w»»^  fc^ 


^'"^THE   LIMITATION   OF   EVIL. 

"  Behold,  thou  hast  spoken  and  done  evil  things  as  thou  couldest." 
— JER.  iii.  5. 

[The  theologian  is  sometimes  accused  of  being  angry  be- 
cause in  actual  life  men  do  not  turn  out  as  black  as  he 
paints  them.  The  pulpit  has  much  to  say  about  the  deep 
and  bitter  depravity  of  human  nature,  but  the  facts  of 
society,  it  is  alleged,  do  not  bear  out  the  preacher's  repre- 
sentations. Mankind  at  large  have  more  virtue  than  vice ; 
good  actions  are  more  frequent  than  bad  ones;  there  is 
clearly  in  our  nature,  the  objector  continues^  a  preponder- 
ance  of  innate  good  over  evil.  Men  have  many  and  serious 
faults,  yet  as  a  rule,  it  is  maintained,  they  are  far  from 
being  the  monsters  that  the  doctrine  of  total  depravity 
would  lead  us  to  expect.  Still  we  venture  to  think  it  will 
not  be  difficult  to  show  that  the  weakness  and  perversity 
imputed  to  us  by  revelation  are  in  no  wise  exaggerated, 
although  the  fact  of  such  depravity  is  not  always  con- 
spicuous. 

I.  We  indicate  some  of  the  restraming  influences  of  life, 
"  As  thou  couldest."  The  people  of  God  had  not  spoken 
and  done  evil  things  to  the  utmost ;  they  had  not  carried 
out  evil  to  the  same  lengths  that  their  neighbours  had ;  by 
a  divine  and  gracious  system  of  checks  they  had  been  pre- 
served from  this  practical  excess.     And  we  too  are  withheld 


48  THE    LIMITATION    OF   EVIL. 

by  merciful  limitations  from  carrying  into  effect  the  fulness 
of  the  evil  of  our  heart.  By  many  considerations  we  are 
restrained  from  fulfilling  the  evil  impulses  and  designs  of 
which  we  are  conscious  ;  our  potential  wickedness  is  not 
allowed  to  become  actual.  When  those  restraining  in- 
fluences are  suspended,  theologians  have  little  reason  to 
be  angry  at  the  lightness  of  the  moral  hue. 

I.  There  is  the  restraint  imposed  by  revelation.     The 
possession  of  God's  AVord  was  a  grand  discipline  to  the 
people  of  Israel.    "  What  advantage  then  hath  the  Jew  ?  .  .  . 
Much  every  way :  first  of  all,  that  they  were  intrusted  with 
the  oracles  of  God."     To  know  the  moral  perfections  of 
God,  to  discern  the  moral  significance  of  human  life,  to 
possess  the  moral  law  expressed  with  such  clearness,  fulness, 
and  force,  was  a  rare  privilege.     This  was  the  grand  cir- 
cumscription that  kept  Israel  back  from  the  things  of  lust 
and  cruelty  and  shame  which  defiled  and  destroyed  their 
heathen  neighbours.     Speaking  of  the  terrible  vices  of  the 
Gentiles,  Moses  says,  "For  all  that  do  these  things  are  an 
abomination  unto  the  Lord  :  and  because  of  these  abomi- 
nations the  Lord  thy  God  dodi  drive  them  out  from  before 
thee."     And,  addressing  Israel,  he  immediately  adds,  "  But 
as  for  thee,  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  not  suffered  thee  so  to 
do."   That  Israel  did  not  fall  into  the  flagrant  wickedness  of 
the  surrounding  nations  was  not  the  consequence  of  their 
innate  strength  or  goodness— the  Lord  their  God  restrained 
them.     The  voices  of  Sinai  ringing  in  their  ears  warned 
and  strengthened   them   against   the   destructive  errors  of 
paganism.      Are   we   not   to-day   restrained   by   the   same 
i  gracious  influence  ?     Our  poet  speaks  of  "  the  silver  streak  '^ 
Ithat  comes  between  us  and  the  Continent,  delivering  our 
nation  from  fears,  wars,  and  contagions.     Is  not  that  reve- 


THE  LIMITATION   OF  EVIL,  49 

latlon  which  is  in  the  hands  of  all  our  countrymen  a  silver 
streak  coming  between  us  and  contemporaneous  paganism  ? 
That  we  are  preserved  from  the  senseless  beliefs,  the  de- 
grading worship,  the  shameless  immoralities  of  India, 
China,  Persia,  is  not  owing  on  our  part  to  superior  in- 
tellectual powers,  or  a  finer  instinctive  moral  sense,  or  a 
more  vivid  religious  nature,  but  to  the  fact  that  God  has 
been  pleased  to  give  us  His  holy  law,  thereby  enlightening, 
admonishing,  strengthening  us.  Despite  all  the  blandish- 
inents  of  our  civilization  we  arejagan  at  heart,  and  the 
divine  page  is  the  precious  streak  of  silver  coming  between 
us  and  the  gross  follies,  the  filthy  gods,  the  festering  plagues 
of  heathendom.  Again  and  again,  when  individuals  and 
communities  repudiate  revelation,  when  they  break  its 
bands  asunder  and  cast  away  its  cords  from  them,  do  we 
see  how  much  barbarism  there  is  still  in  us,  and  how  much 
we  owe  of  our  civilization  to  the  doctrines  and  hopes  of  the 
Christian  faith. 

2.  There  is  the  restraint  imposed  by  grace.  The  direct 
divine  action  on  our  mind,  will,  conscience,  feeling.  This 
was  the  master-restraint  of  the  antediluvian  world.  When 
the  earth  was  corrupt  and  filled  with  violence,  God's  Spirit 
was  striving  with  men,  seeking  with  intensest  action  to 
save  them  from  sinking  in  the  sensual  mire.  So  has  the 
selfsame  Spirit  striven  in  all  hearts,  and  in  all  generations. 
This  is  another  ''silver  streak,"  a  sea  of  glass  mingled  with 
nre,  coming  between  us  and  the  shores  of  darkness.  Is  it 
objected  that  we  are  now  dealing  with  what  is  simply 
theological  and  mystical  ?  Our  appeal  is  to  the  testimony 
of  consciousness.  Is  not  the  action  of  the  Divine  Spirit 
dwelling  within  us,  pleading  with  us,  restraining  us, — is  not 
this  gracious  action  one  of  the  clearest,  as  it  is  one  of  the 

E— 14 


50  THE   LIMITATION   OF    EVIL. 

most  solemn,  facts  of  life?  We  have  been  vividly  con- 
scious of  it  in  the  days  of  our  inexperience,  of  our  weakness, 
of  our  unwatchfulness ;  we  remember  its  admonitions  and 
beseechings  in  our  blind  days,  our  weak  days,  our  mad 
days.  Through  all  the  ignorance,  the  unreasonableness, 
the  wilfulness  of  our  life  have  we  been  conscious  of  His 
generous  action,  subduing  our  vain  thoughts,  checking  the 
wandering  of  our  will,  quenching  passion's  kindling  fire. 
JAs  a  horse  is  held  in  by  bit  and  bridle,  as  a  ship  on  some 
rocky  coast  is  held  by  her  anchor,  so  have  we  all  in 
dangerous  days  been  restrained  and  delivered  by  the  Spirit 
of  grace.  Let  men  quench  that  Spirit,  and  the  disastrous 
consequence  is  soon  revealed.  The  apostle  speaks  of 
those  who  are  "past  feeUng,"  that  is,  of  men  who  have 
driven  the  Spirit  of  God  out  of  their  breast.  What  follows 
upon  this  expulsion  ?  "  Who  have  given  themselves  over 
unto  lasciviousness,  to  work  all  uncleanness  with  greedi- 
ness." Then  it  is  seen  whether  human  nature  is  not  as 
',  black  as  theology  paints  it.  We  do  not  go  to  excess  of 
riot ;  we  do  not  work  out  our  passions  and  imaginations 
of  evil ;  we  do  not  demonstrate  our  essential  wickedness ; 
because  of  a  Power  not  ourselves ;  because  the  Spirit  of 
God  dwells  in  us,  convincing,  shaming,  alluring,  fortifying  us. 
3.  There  is  the  restraint  imposed  by  society .  Oar 
civilization,  which  is  the  grace  of  God  organized,  is  full  of 
restraining  influences  to  which  we  owe  far  more  than  we 
sometimes  think.  There  is  the  restraint  of  the  civil  law. 
We  owe  much  of  our  common  public  morality  to  the  pres- 

E"  ure  and  menace  of  civil  law.  If  all  the  criminal  laws  were 
uddenly  repealed  by  some  revolutionary  authority,  and  all 
nen  were  left  to  do  what  was  right  in  their  own  eyes,  would 
it  then  be  found  that  theology  had  done  any  injustice  to 


THE   LIMITATION    OF   EVIL.  5 1 

human  nature  ?     There  is  the  restraint  of  public  opinicn. 
The  Africans  say  that  the  bite  of  a  serpent  is  less  dangerous 
if  it   be  witnessed   by  many  spectators— the   presence   of 
watching  eyes  is  supposed  to  attenuate  the  poison ;  without 
doubt,  the  vigilant  eyes  about  us  in  daily  life  often  check 
the  working  of  the   black   poison   that   is   in   our  blood. 
There   is   the   restraint   of  social   etiquette.      Desiring  to 
appear  gentlemen,  we  mortify  our  vanity,  temper,  covetous- 
ness,  lust.     There  is  the  restraint  of  our  business.     We  are 
often  impatient  with  the  monotony  and  fatigue  of  our  daily 
task,  but  it  has  an  immense  practical  moral  value.     There 
are  the  restraints  of  domesticity.     Very  preservative  of  our 
best  qualities  are  the  sweet  ties  and  sacred  obligations  of 
the  family.    All  these  laws,  institutions,  duties,  relationships, 
are  "silver  streaks"   coming  between  us   and  alien  hosts. 
What  dire  consequences  follow  the  suspension  of  these  re- 
straints I   We  are  assured  that  the  excesses  of  young  men  in 
Johannesburg  who  find  themselves  suddenly  free  from  the 
restraints  of  European  civilization  are  truly  terrible.    Sailors 
left  on   savage   coasts   often   become   more  vile  than  the 
heathen.     And   the  story  that  so  recently  engaged  public 
attention  respecting   the  atrocities  of  Stanley's   rear-guard 
shows   what   the   polite,  scientific,  artistic   EngHshman   is 
when,  removed  from  the  criticism  of  civilization,  he  gives 
free  play  to  his  nature.     And  the  atrocities  of  the  rear- 
column  were  not  isolated,  single,  sporadic  outrages,  con- 
fined to  a  single  camp,  but  many  previous  acts  of  wanton 
and  horrible  cruelty  have  been  committed  by  our  country- 
vmen.     "  The  human  brain  is  a  more  terrible  weapon  than 
jthe  lion's  paw."     Yes,  indeed,  the  cultivated  brain  of  the 
gentleman,  of  the  scientist,  of  the  artist.     The  moral  of  the 
African  episode  is,  that  we  are  as  black  as  the  theologian 


52  THE  LIMITATION  OF  EVIL. 

paints  us.  If  it  should  be  suggested  that  the  laws,  in- 
stitutions, and  proprieties  of  society  which  forbid  excess 
are  themselves  expressions  of  the  moral  sense,  it  will  at 
once  be  palpable  to  most  that  these  circumscriptions  are 
dictated  by  fear,  policy,  and  selfishness  rather  than  by  any 
love  of  righteousness  for  its  own  sake.  That  one  wolf 
holds  another  wolf  in  check  must  not  be  construed  to  mean 
that  we  are  a  flock  of  lambs. 

II.  Notwithstanding  the  restrai?its  of  life,  we  discover  the 
wickedness  of  our  nature  by  going  as  far  as  possible  in  the 
directio7i  of  transgression.  "Behold,  thou  hast  spoken  and 
done  evil  things  as  thou  couldest."  Israel  had  not  actually 
been  as  hcentious  as  the  Egyptian,  the  Assyrian,  or  the 
Phoenician,  but  they  had  trespassed  as  far  as  they  dared. 
There  was,  of  course,  a  sense  in  which  they  could  have 
broken  through  and  done  outrageously,  but  they  went  as  far 
as  they  might  without  incurring  immediate  and  capital  loss. 
Men  have  power  to  fling  themselves  into  the  fire,  to  throw 
themselves  over  a  precipice,  but  for  obvious  reasons  they 
usually  stop  short  of  these  desperate  deeds.  So  Israel 
hitherto  had  abstained  from  the  extreme  acts  of  transgression 
which  would  have  involved  immediate  retribution,  but  they 
showed  their  disposition  by  playing  with  the  fire,  by  trifling 
on  the  edge  of  the  abyss.  So  in  these  days  we  show  what 
we  really  are  by  going  as  far  as  we  dare  or  can  in  actual 
disobedience.  We  go  as  far  as  our  material  will  permit. 
Sinners  sometimes  plume  themselves  on  the  fact  that  they 
have  not  gone  to  excess  as  some  other  sinners  have  done, 
but  the  simple  truth  is  that  the  pharisaical  transgressor 
had  not  the  same  abundance  of  material  and  resource. 
They  are 

Y  Wicked  but  in  will,  of  means  bereft." 


THE   LIMITATION    OF   EVIL.  53 

And  not  the  less  wicked,  therefore,  because  of  the  com- 
parative triviahty  of  their  crimes.  We  go  as  far  as  our 
opportunity  permits.  The  lively  manner  in  which  we  have 
used  our  rarer  opportunities  to  sin  shows  that  increased 
leisure  and  facility  would  only  have  exaggerated  our 
misdoing,  jt^ray  reminds  us  how  the  lot  of  many  prevented 
.then/from  displaying  great  virtues,  splendid  patriotism, 
\ brilliant  eloquence,  but  he  justly  reminds  us  that  such 
limitation  had  its  side  of  advantage. 

"  Nor  circumscribed  alone  ;  _ 

Their  growing  virtues,  but  their  crimes  confined  ; 
Forbade  to  wade  through  slaughter  to  a  throne, 
And  shut  the  gates  of  Mercy  on  mankind ; 

"The  straggling  pangs  of  conscious  Truth  to  hide, 
To  quench  the  blushes  of  ingenuous  Shame, 
Or  heap  the  shrine  of  Luxuiy  and  Pride 
With  incense  kindled  at  the  Muse's  flame." 

We  go  as  far  as  our  ability  will  permit.  As  Ibsen  says,  ''  It 
needs  both  force  and  earnestness  to  sin,"  and  we  often  stop 
short  of  splendid  sins,  historic  sins,  tragic  sins,  because  we 
are  deficient  in  the  strength  and  boldness  of  character  which 
render  such  sins  possible.  We  go  as  far  as  our  provocations 
Ujrge.  As  Ruskin  writes,  "  The  virtues  of  the  inhabitants 
'of  many  country  districts  are  apparent,  not  real ;  their  lives 
are  indeed  ardess,  but  not  innocent;  and  it  is  only  the 
'monotony  of  circumstances,  and  the  absence  of  temptation, 
which  prevent  the  exhibition  of  evil  passions  not  less  real 
because  often  dormant,  nor  less  foul  because  shown  only 
in  petty  faults  or  inactive  malignities."  There  have  been 
plenty  of  petty  injustices,  peculations,  dupHcities,  revenges, 
infidelities,  in  our  life,  and  increased  facility,  resource, 
talent,  force,  opportunity,  would  only  have  given  greater 
proportion   to   our   sin,   without,   however,   increasing   its 


54  THE   LIMITATION   OF   EVIL 

malignity  and  guilt.  Ours  is  not  the  abominable  sin  of 
Sodom,  because  we  have  Hved  in  Leeds,  Manchester,  and 
London;  we  are  not  chargeable  with  the  crimson  crimes 
of  Nero,  because  we  were  never  master  of  a  Roman  palace ; 
jwe  have  not  the  bloodguiltiness  of  Napoleon,  because  we 
nave  not  Napoleon's  mighty  force  of  character. 

"As  thou  couldest."  As  thou  couldest  with  impunity. 
We  are  intemperate  with  a  due  regard  to  our  health ;  freer 
indulgence  would  destroy  us,  and  that  is  not  what  we  mean. 
We  are  uncharitable  with  a  due  regard  to  our  reputation ; 
we  must  not  infringe  the  law  of  libel.  We  are  ambitious 
and  vain ;  but  our  ostentation  must  be  limited  by  considera- 
tions of  pride  and  covetousness.  As  thou  couldest  with 
decency.  We  must  not  qualify  our  reputation ;  we  must 
not  be  guilty  of  bad  manners,  bad  form,  bad  taste.  As 
thou  couldest  with  advantage.  Carrying  out  unrighteous- 
ness right  up  to  the  point  where  it  ceases  to  be  lucrative, 
and  breaking  it  off  just  there.  And  let  none  conclude  that 
sins  toned  down  by  considerations  of  policy  and  taste  are 
of  a  less  malignant  quality,  or  that  they  are  less  offensive 
before  God,  than  are  sins  of  a  more  violent  or  exaggerated 
order.  The  reflection,  forethought,  taste,  resolution,  im- 
plied in  this  Umitation  of  evil  seems  to  give  it  a  less  repul- 
sive and  sinister  character,  but  if  we  yield  to  any  such  view 
we  simply  flatter  ourselves  in  our  own  eyes  until  our  iniquity 
is  found  to  be  hateful.  Do  we  think  the  less  of  a  sin 
because  it  is  committed  in  cold  blood,  and  cleverly  dis- 
guised and  fenced  from  detection  and  punishment  ?  On 
the  contrary,  we  rather  feel  the  sin  to  be  the  more  excusable 
that  has  been  committed  in  passion,  that  has  been  wrought 
out  with  least  deliberation,  that  sought  least  to  disguise 
itself;   the  haste,  thoughtlessness,  recklessness  of  the  act 


THE   LIMITATION   OF   EVIL.  55 

dispose  us  to  a  more  lenient  judgaient.  It  is  fortunately 
not  our  duty  to  arbitrate  between  these  alternative  views  of 
the  comparative  heinousness  of  specific  sins,  but  certainly 
we  cannot  think  lightly  of  sin  conditioned  by  considerations 
of  mere  economy,  safety,  respectability,  taste.  The  presence 
of  the  regulative  principle  of  selfishness  serenely  asserting 
itself  everywhere  in  a  vicious  career;  the  chastening  of 
desire  at  the  prompting  of  purely  prudential  considerations  ; 
the  cool  balancing  of  evils  in  the  scales  of  the  practical 
judgment ;  the  long  and  intricate  calculation  as  to  how  we 
may  secure  the  fullest  gratification  of  our  baser  self  with 
the  least  sacrifice  of  wealth  and  honour; — these  are  not 
things  to  make  us  think  more  tolerantly  of  transgression, 
or  of  the  nature  by  which  such  transgression  is  prompted. 
Subtlety  is  not  reason  ;  prudence  is  not  righteousness ;  and 
although  a  man  may  be  less  of  a  fool  for  seeking  the  gratifi- 
cation of  his  baser  self  politically,  he  is  certainly  not  the 
less  a  sinner.  The  Master  has  not  one  word  of  extenuation 
for  the  arithmetical  virtue  of  the  Pharisee ;  it  even  shocks 
Him  more  than  the  open  blunt  sin  of  the  Publican. 

III.  It  is  sufficiently  clear  that  many  ivould  at  once 
proceed  to  greater  lengths  of  ivickedness  if  the  restrictive  influ- 
ences of  life  zvere  withdrawn. 

I.  Note  the  extent  to  which  men  nsist  these  saving 
influences.  We  have  spoken  of  "  the  silver  streak  "  coming 
between  us  and  the  errors  and  passions  of  other  places  and 
periods.  Now  as  some  engineers  are  wishful  to  drive  a 
\tunnel  under  the  Channel  and  establish  immediate  relations 
jwith  the  Continent,  so  men  are  busy  in  all  directions  inge- 
niiously  attempting  to  evade  the  silver  streaks  which  Heaven 
has  mercifully  placed  between  them  and  the  excesses  of 
passion  and  appetite.    Is  not  much  of  the  criticism  directed 


S6  THE   LIMITATION   OF   EVIL. 

against  the  Scriptures  inspired  by  a  secret  discontent  with 
its  moral  restrictions  ?  Many  critics^  no  doubt,  are  influ- 
enced by  more  legitimate  considerations ;  but  they  are  not 
few  who  seek  to  discredit  revelation  in  the  interests  of  a 
lower  and  not  of  a  higher  morality.  Many  who  are  discon- 
tented with  the  Bible,  who  are  ready  to  find  fault  with  it, 
who  welcome  new  objections  to  its  authority,  who  are 
rejoiced  to  discover  some  fresh  difficulty  in  its  contents  or 
history,  will  find  the  secret  of  their  hostility  in  an  unspoken 
desire  for  a  larger  licence  of  life.  The  criticism  of  the 
Bible  in  the  literary  world,  the  impatience  felt  with  it  in 
the  individual  life,  are  frequently  nothing  more  than  a 
revolt  against  its  noble  righteousness,  although  such  a  revolt 
may  not  in  the  least  confess  its  true  character.  We  fret  at 
the  narrowness  of  the  way  which  leadeth  unto  life.  Do  we 
not  also  resist  the  Holy  Spirit  by  whose  gracious  influence 
we  are  admonished  and  restrained  ?  Far  from  welcoming 
His  benign  action  on  our  heart,  we  often  vex  the  Spirit,  and 
are  vexed  by  Him.  He  comes  between  us  and  the  gratifi- 
cation of  flesh  and  mind,  and  we  resent  His  interference. 
The  conscience  bearing  witness  against  us  in  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  what  we  cannot  endure.  With  a  true  appreciation 
of  the  preciousness  of  the  indwelling  grace  the  psalmist 
prayed,  "  Take  not  Thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me ; "  but  in 
temper  and  action  we  often  urge  the  dreadful  supplication, 
"  Take  Thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me."  We  resolutely  seek  to 
drown  His  voice ;  we  spurn  the  patterns  He  shows  us  ;  we 
do  our  best  to  extinguish  the  pure  and  kindly  fire  by  which 
He  seeks  to  refine  and  perfect  us.  Opportunity  no  longer 
permits  us  to  stone  the  prophets,  or  to  crucify  the  Son  of 
man,  but  we  reveal  the  same  hatred  of  truth  and  righteous- 
ness by  doing  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  grace.    Do  not  many  of 


THE   LIMITATION   OF   EVIL.  57 

US  also  resent  the  stringency  of  society  ?  A  not  inconsider- 
able section  of  the  community  constantly  and  boldly  agitate 
for  freer  conditions  of  life.  They  protest  against  Puritan- 
/ism ;  they  scorn  the  officialism  which  cramps  us;  they 
I  demand  complete  emancipation  from  the  fetich-worship  of 
I  Respectability,  from  the  despotism  of  Bumbledom.  These 
advocates  of  libertinism  acknowledge  that  there  is  more 
political  liberty  in  England  than  there  is  on  the  Continent, 
but  the  reverse  is  true,  they  say,  regarding  questions  of 
morals  and  sociology,  and  they  plead  for  the  abolition  of 
"  that  Bumbleism  which  at  every  point  checks  and  thwarts 
the  production  of  thoughtful  and  outspoken  writings."  ^  In 
the  name  of  free  thought,  of  a  free  press,  of  free  institutions, 
the  nude  in  art  must  be  encouraged,  "  outspoken  "  writings 
protected,  the  theatre  must  receive  a  wider  licence,  sexual 
life  must  be  unfettered.  With  what  strange  infatuation  do 
we  rebel  against  and  seek  to  escape  the  crystal  deep  which 
God  has  established  between  us  and  ruin ! 

2.  And  the  second  sign  of  the  irregularity  and  in- 
ordinativeness  of  our  desire  is  found  in  the  popularity  of  certain 
imaginative  literature.  Modern  society,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  has  put  distinct  and  authoritative  limits  to  many  forms 
of  indulgence;  but  human  nature  shows  its  old  quality 
unchanged,  for  when  it  can  no  longer  gratify  itself  in  the 
actual  world,  it  betakes  itself  to  the  ideal  world.  The 
I  Winter  Garden  at  St.  Petersburg  is  an  attempt  to  find  a 
compensation  for  those  summer  landscapes  which  climate 
denies  to  the  Russian ;  the  lark  singing  from  its  little  cage 
in  Seven  Dials  is  a  pathetic  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  city 
poor  to  restore  in  some  measure  the  rural  delights  they  may 
no  longer  share;  and  just  as  certainly  do  we  seek  in  our 
les  Thompson. 


58  THE   LIMITATION   OF   EVIL. 

literature  to  compensate  ourselves  for  liberties  and  pleasures 
denied  or  curtailed  by  civilization.  In  the  literature  of 
fiction  we  find  gratifications  which  the  changes  of  the  times 
have  rendered  impossible  in  actual  life.  In  the  wonder- 
fully vivid  painting  of  our  realists ;  in  their  splendid 
pictures  of  wealth  and  power;  in  their  suggestive  handling 
of  dark  impulses  and  desires ;  in  their  delicate  rendering  of 
the  delicious  hues  of  passion  ;  in  the  subtle  way  in  which 
they  call  up  the  sensations  of  guilty  pleasure ;  in  their  drama- 
tization of  evil,  giving  it  magnificence,  dignity,  excuse;  in 
the  skilful  plot  which  keeps  the  heart  in  a  state  of  agitation  ; 
the  student,  without  leaving  his  quiet  chamber,  may  enjoy 
all  the  ignoble  delights  of  luxury,  pride,  foulness,  vanity, 
hate,  and  revenge.  In  the  realistic  romance  of  to-day 
Sodom  rises  like  an  exhalation  from  the  ground,  gleaming 
1  through  splendid  words  as  once  through  palms  and  flowers; 
iPompeii  emerges  from  its  ashes  on  the  shore  of  the  blue 
'sea;  Babylon,  Sybaris,  Cyprus,  glow  again  in  purple  light, 
holding  forth  to  the  lips  of  a  strange  generation  the  wine 
of  their  fornication.  Here  the  soul,  freed  from  the  hated 
restraints  of  austere  social  regulations,  satiates  itself  in 
unlimited  excitement.  Here  is  no  police,  no  magistrate, 
no  public  opinion,  no  stigma,  no  penalty.  Now,  "as  a 
man  thinketh  in  his  heart  so  is  he,"  and  the  undisguised 
pleasure  which  multitudes  are  now  finding  in  abominable 
literature  shows  that  human  nature  is  still  much  the  dark 
thing  it  has  been  painted,  and  it  indicates  also  that  if  any 
fatal  revolution  threw  down  the  safeguards  of  our  civiHzation, 
we  should  soon  convert  into  fact  what  now  we  so  eagerly 
picture  in  fancy. 

Here,  then,  it  is  seen  that  human  nature  is  not  lightly 
or  unjustly  impeached.     We   could  not   perpetrate  many 


THE   LIMITATION   OF   EVIL.  50 

evils  because  we  were  caged  in  by  circumstance,  but  we 
have  shown  our  disposition  by  thrusting  our  claws  as  far 
beyond  the  bars  as  possible ;  we  have  been  held  back  from 
presumptuous  sins  and  utter  shipwreck,  but  as  a  ship  in  a 
storm  frets  against  her  anchor,  so  have  we  often  strained 
the  preventing  grace  of  God  well-nigh  to  the  breaking.  We 
have  done  evil  as  we  could  ;  then  we  have  sympathetically 
contemplated  it  in  imagination ;  and  at  last  have  been 
vexed  that  we  were  not  allowed  to  be  as  wicked  as  we 
should  have  liked  to  be. 

We  conclude  with  a  few  practical  reflections. 
([)  Let  us  recognize  the  glory  of  GocCs  prcvcnUng grace. 
'The  Dutch  call  the  chain  of  dykes  which  protects  their 
iields  and  their  firesides  from  the  wild  sea,  "  the  golden 
border."  God's  grace  directly  affecting  our  heart,  or  ex- 
pressed in  the  constitution  of  society  and  the  circumstances 
of  life,  is  a  golden  border  shutting  out  a  raging  threatening 
sea  of  evil.  Oh  !  what  might  we  not  have  been  in  sin  and 
misery  had  not  this  strong  shining  border  come  between  us 
and  the  cruel  deep  which  lifts  up  its  voice  !  "  Not  unto  us, 
O  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  Thy  name  give  glory,  for  Thy 
mercy,  and  for  Thy  truth's  sake."  "  Return  unto  thy  rest, 
O  my  soul ;  for  the  Lord  hath  dealt  bountifully  with  thee. 
For  Thou  hast  delivered  my  soul  from  death,  mine  eyes 
from  tears,  and  my  feet  from  falling.  I  will  walk  before 
the  Lord  in  the  land  of  the  living."  Let  us  respect  and 
use  the  saving  grace.  It  is  said  to  be  scarcely  possible  to 
induce  working  men  engaged  in  dangerous  employments  to 
take  the  most  rudimentary  precautions  against  disease  and 
accident.  The  knife-grinder  neglects  his  mask,  the  collier 
his  lamp ;  they  are  ingenious  in  evading  the  regulations 
framed  for  their  safety.     And  similarly  in  our  recklessness 


60  THE   LIMITATION    OF   EVIL. 

and  presumption  we  ignore  the  things  whi:ch  are  designed 
to  secure  the  safety  of  our  character,  the  peace  of  our  soul. 
Let  us  be  sure  that  we  prize  those  manifold  and  gracious 
arrangements  by  which  God  seeks  to  save  us  from  the 
power  of  evil,  that  we  profit  by  them  to  the  utmost.  Let 
no  pride,  carelessness,  venturesomeness,  lead  us  to  treat 
lightly  the  securities  of  virtue.  The  best  man,  the  strongest, 
the  safest,  must  tremble  and  respect  the  golden  border. 

(2)  Let  us  confess  the  folly  of  our  self-righieoitsncss.  The 
consciousness  of  a  self-righteousness  often  stands  in  the  way 
of  men  attaining  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God,  but  the 
foregoing  reflections  show  how  little  our  self-righteousness 
may  be  worth.  The  fact  that  the  evil  of  our  life  has  been 
less  extravagant  is  not  a  consequence  of  our  intrinsic  merit, 
our  better  disposition  and  purpose,  but  rather  of  the 
slenderness  of  our  resources,  the  fewness  of  our  chances, 
the  feebleness  of  our  provocations.  Geological  "  faults " 
are  said  rarely  to  give  rise  to  any  feature  on  the  surface  of 
the  ground ;  the  faults  may  be  both  extensive  and  serious, 
yet  no  yawning  crack  or  irregular  depression  at  the  surface 
gives  any  indication  of  their  existence.  So  faults  of 
character  may  exist,  very  real,  very  radical  and  profound, 
without  revealing  themselves  obtrusively  on  the  surface; 
the  action  of  the  weather  in  one  case,  the  pressure  of 
society  in  the  other,  smoothing  the  surface  and  concealing 
underlying  irregularities  of  the  most  serious  nature.  Look- 
ing into  our  heart,  we  know  ourselves  to  be  worse  than  the 
world  takes  us  to  be.  As  Victor  Hugo  expresses  it,  "  Our 
dark  side  is  unfathomable.  .  .  .  One  of  the  hardest  labours 
of  the  just  man  is  to  expunge  from  his  soul  a  malevolence 
I  which  it  is  difficult  to  efface.  Almost  all  our  desires,  when 
examined,  contain  what  we  dare  not  avow."    We  have 


THE  LIMITATION   OF  EVIL.  6l 

done  evil  as  we  could,  and  if  we  did  no  more,  the  cause 
of  our  moderation  was  often  rather  external  than  interior. 
But  we  must  know  that  the  apparently  insignificant  trans- 
gression contains  the  whole  dark  principle  of  sin.  More 
falseliood,  more  malice,  more  devilishness,  often  find  vent 
on  an  anonymous  halfpenny  post-card,  than  go  to  thefts 
which  send  men  to  prison,  to  murders  which  send  them  to 
the  gallows.  He  who  regards  the  heart  can  see  the  terrible 
principle  in  the  petty  act ;  larger  or  more  fitting  opportunity 
was  alone  wanting  to  make  the  tragedy.  And  in  the  one 
point  where  we  fail  the  just  Judge  can  see  the  guilt  of  all 
transgressions.  "  She  hath  done  what  she  could,"  said 
Christ  of  the  woman  who  gave  her  all.  Gracious  truth  ! 
The  little  that  is  faithfully  done  God  accepts  for  the  doing 
of  all  noble  things.  But  is  not  the  other  side  true  ?  If 
"She  hath  done  what  she  could"  be  taken  as  the  sum  of 
all  good,  will  not  ''  She  hath  done  what  she  could "  be 
taken  as  the  sum  of  all  evil  ?  Truly  our  righteousness  is 
the  one  thing  about  us  that  will  the  least  bear  scrutiny. 
"We  all  do  fade  as  a  leaf;  and  our  iniquities,  like  the 
wind,  have  taken  us  away."  ''  God  be  merciful  unto  me, 
a  sinner." 

(3)  We  see  f/ie  necessify  and  urgency  of  the  grace  which 
converts  and  perfects.  It  is  by  no  means  wholly  satisfactory 
that  we  are  kept  by  restraining  grace";  we  must  go  on  to 
seek  the  grace  which  renews.  Only  with  deep  thankfulness 
can  we  regard  the  influences,  doctrines,  and  institutions 
which  save  us  from  ourselves  and  from  the  power  and 
subtlety  of  surrounding  evil ;  but  the  grace  which  converts 
us  into  a  new  self  is  what  we  must  most  earnestly  covet 
and  pursue.  Without  this  hallowing  grace  we  are  like  the 
master  of  a  castle  ruling  by  force  and  fear,  whilst  the 


62  THE   LIMITATION    OF   EVIL. 

dungeon  below  is  full  of  plotting  prisoners  ready  at  any 
moment  to  burst  into  furious  revolt;   or,  we  resemble  a 
ship  at  sea  ^\ith  a  fire  smouldering  in  the  hold :  the  hatches 
are  battened  down,  but  the  smoke  issuing  at  many  places 
shows  how  easily  the  catastrophe   might  be  precipitated. 
This   will   not   do.     The   dungeon  must  be  emptied  and 
filled  with  light  :  the  fire  must  be  quenched,  and  the  hold 
filled  with  a  fragrant  freight.     We  must  rest  only  in  the 
grace  v/hich  gives  us  a  new  heart  and  a  right  spirit.     A 
celebrated  writer  says  justly,  "Christ  raised  the  feeling  of 
humanity  from  being  a  feeble  restraining  power  to  be  an 
inspiring  passion.     The  Christian  moral  reformation  may, 
indeed,  be  summed  up  in  this — humanity  changed  from  a 
restraint  to  a  motive."  ^     The  New  Testament  is  full  cf  this 
dynamic  idea  ;  of  the  indwelling  power  which  gives  purity, 
safety,  victory.     Whenever  in  one  line  it  inhibits  evil  in 
any  shape,  in  the  next  it  reminds  us  of  the  spiritual  energy 
by  which  all  righteousness  may  be  fulfilled.     Christianiiy 
brings  us  a  motive  of  unparalleled  grandeur;    it  fills  the 
soul  with  the  highest  visions,  convictions,  loves,  ambitions. 
And  there  is  a  sublime  concurrence  of  forces  in  its  motive. 
It  is  a  new  force  working  in  all  the  nobler  instincts  of  our 
humanity;  it  is  a  new  force  in  the  inttllect ;  it  is  a  new 
force  in  the  conscience ;  it  is  a  new  force  in  the  affections. 
We  may  find  elsewhere  motives  to  touch,  to  kindle,  this  or 
the  other  faculty  of  our  nature ;  but  the  supremest  motive, 
the  motive  that  shall  arouse,  inspire,  fortify,  every  gift  and 
power  of  our  complex  being,  can  only  be  found  in  the  gospel 
of  Christ,  and  it  is  found  there  in  its  fulness.     This  is  the 
sum  of  the  Christian  reformation,  and  upon  this  it  depends. 
Other  moral  reformations  may  be  content  to  restrain  their 
■£cce  HomOi" 


THE  LIMITATION    OF   EVIL.  63 

disciples  from  overt  acts  of  wickedness,  but  Christ  is  con- 
tent only  when  the  kingdom  of  God  is  established  within 
His  followers,  when  the  sovereignty  of  righteousness  and 
love  has  been  set  up  in  their  heart.  The  perfection  of  life 
is  from  within.  Let  us  earnestly  seek  this  thought,  affection, 
energy,  which  only  the  Saviour's  presence  can  excite  and 
sustain.  "  I  cease  not  to  give  thanks  for  you,  making 
mention  of  you  in  my  prayers ;  that  ye  may  know  what  is 
the  exceeding  greatness  of  His  power  to  us-ward  who 
believe,  according  to  the  working  of  His  mighty  power, 
which  He  wrought  in  Clirist,  when  He  raised  Him  from 
the  dead,  and  set  Him  at  His  own  right  hand  in  the 
heavenly  places." 

The  Christian  reformer,  too,  must  not  be  content  with 
the  limitation  and  suppression  of  evil  in  society;  he  must 
(feel  that  there,  as  well  as  in  his  personal  life,  inward  re- 
generation and  constraint  are  the  final  motives  of  his  faith. 
In  the  old  days  the  gutters  were  open  in  the  streets,  but 
in  modern  towns  they  are  put  underground ;  so  society 
is  always  forcing  vices  and  abuses  underground,  covering 
them  up  by  a  variety  of  regulations  that  they  no  longer 
shock  the  public  sense.  Still,  on  occasion,  the  covered 
drain  may  prove  its  deadly  virtue,  and  the  covered  sin  of 
the  community  is  still  there,  working  and  threatening  mis- 
chief. "  At  all  times  the  undying  savage  in  the  soul  of  man 
has  been  quick  to  revive  and  to  reassert  itself  in  myth. 
Spiritual  philosophies  die  and  decay,  and  in  their  twilight 
the  earliest  and  the  rudest  creeds,  spiritualism,  polytheism, 
fetichism,  mystic  mummery  and  magic,  again  and  again 
reappear.  They  creep  out  from  the  huts  of  peasants,  and 
from  the  battered  fanes  of  half-forgotten  rural  gods ;  and 
from  dark  corners  of  the  fouI  they  return  to  life,     Man  can 


64  THE   LIMITATION   OF  EVIL. 

never  be  certain  that  he  has  expelled  the  savage  from  his 
temples  and  from'  his  heart."  ^  The  Christian  reformer 
must  seek  to  make  it  certain  that  he -does  expel  the  savage 
from  the  heart  of  man.  Christ  has  made  us  to  know  that 
that  savage  is  not  "  undying."  "  How  shall  we  who  are 
dead  to  sin  live  any  longer  therein  ?  "  Whilst  thankful  for 
every  political  check  to  sin,  for  every  legal  restraint,  for  any 
and  every  social  discouragement  of  insobriety,  greed,  or 
impurity,  let  us  ardently  seek  that  the  deepest  channels  of 
human  life  may  be  cleansed,  and  that  thence  may  spring 
all  the  fair  things  of  society,  as  the  water-lilies  spring  from 
the  crystal  deeps, 

^  Lang,  "Myth,  Ritual,  and  Religion," 


THE    TRANSFORMATION    OF 
EVIL. 


F— 14 


H-       ^^-41. 


■J 


THE    TRANSFORMATION    OF 
EVIL. 

"  For  vSatan  himself  is  transformed  into  an  antjel  of  lifjht."— 2  COK. 


If  the  evil  that  assails  us  were  as  frightful  in  its  aspect 
as  it  is  in  its  essence,  we  should  run  little  danger  from  its 
assaults ;  but  too  often  it  besets  us  in  fair  forms  and  in 
dazzling  colours,  and  herein  lies  our  peril.  It  discloses 
itself  as  something  different  from  evil,  something  far  re- 
moved from  evil,  or  even  as  something  altogether  good  and 
beautiful.  We  shrink  from  the  gorilla,  the  tiger,  the  wolf, 
the  crocodile,  the  rattlesnake,  the  shark,  the  scorpion,  the 
centipede,  the  hornet,  the  leech,  the  vulture — we  are  afraid 
of  these  creatures  of  loathsomeness  and  blood ;  and  in  a 
very  similar  way  we  shrink  from  the  vices  undisguised.  But 
just  as  the  Oriental  superstitiously  invests  destructive  beasts 
with  a  certain  glamour,  refusing  to  destroy  the  tiger,  respect- 
ing the  vulture  as  sacred,  decorating  the  crocodile  with 
jewels,  consecrating  shrines  for  serpents;  so  the  vices  attain 
a  certain  glamour  in  our  eyes,  becoming  positively  lovely, 
sacred,  angelic.  We  now  propose  to  distinguish  several 
ways  in  which  this  transfiguration  of  evil  is  effected,  and 
to  indicate  the  path  of  safety  amid  these  dangerous  illusions. 
I.   The  transfiguratio7i  of  eviL 


6S  THE    TRANSFORMATION   OF   EVIL. 

I.  Evil  is  transfigured  by  imagination.  One  of  the 
naturalists  writes  concerning  *'  the  beautiful  methods  of 
killing  the  delicate  inhabitants  of  the  sea,"  which  have  been 
invented  in  modern  times.  What  beautiful  methods  there 
are  for  killing  the  dehcate  inhabitints  of  the  land,  for 
destroying  the  life  that  is  most  precious  of  all  !  By  imagi- 
nation's aid  souls  are  lured  into  corruption,  misery,  ruin. 
This  seduction  is  sometimes  wrought  by  poetry.  The  bard 
poisons  us  with  roses ;  robes  corruption  in  cloth  of  gold  ; 
makes  death  speak  like  life ;  strews  the  pathway  of  despair 
with  flowers.  Our  fiction  abounds  with  this  misrepresen- 
tation. Atheism  has  signally  failed  in  practical  life  to 
produce  beautiful  characters  —  its  biographies  are  terribly 
disappointing ;  but  the  novels  of  scepticism  are  producing 
magnificent  characters — indeed,  it  may  be  confessed  that 
their  paper  saints  are  of  an  ideal  perfection.  In  our  fiction 
also  immoral  characters  are  often  made  to  appear  altogether 
heroic  and  charming.  And  in  many  other  directions 
literary  artists  gild  and  glorify  wickedness.  How  artfully 
intemperance  has  been  metamorphosed  into  shapes  actually 
delightful  to  contemplate  !  Teetotal  songs  thrill  nobody, 
but  the  singing  inspired  by  wine  is  as  intoxicating  as  the 
wine  itself.  Bacchus  marches  accompanied  by  choicest 
songs,  sweetest  music,  liveliest  mirth.  It  is  the  same  with 
war.  Poets,  orators,  historians,  have  treated  the  battle-field 
so  eloquently  that  the  victories  of  peace  look  pale  com- 
pared with  the  victories  of  war.  We  noticed  a  village  the 
other  day  where  the  slaughter-house  had  been  cleverly 
concealed  by  trees  and  evergreens;  and  the  slaughter- 
house of  the  nations  has  been  similarly  hidden  by  flowers  of 
rhetoric.  Libertinism  is  often  made  to  glow  with  delusive 
lustre.    All   the  resources  of  feeling,  fancy,  and  language 


THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF   EVIL.  69 

are  taxed  to  make  a  loose  life  appear  a  gay,  a  brilliant,  a 
free,  a  delightful  thing.  In  nature  we  see  sometimes  the 
dirtiest  puddles  tinged  with  bits  of  rainbow ;  oftener  still 
in  literature. 

Imagination  is  ever  active  in  many  ways  and  in  many 
places,  lending  to  evil  things  a  fictitious  splendour.  Bates 
found  on  the  Amazon  a  brilliant  spider  that  spread  itself 
out  as  a  flower,  and  the  insects  lighting  upon  it  seeking 
sweetness,  found  horror,  torment,  death.  Such  transforma- 
tions are  common  in  human  life ;  things  of  poison  and 
blood  are  everywhere  displaying  themselves  in  forms  of 
innocence,  in  dyes  of  beauty.  The  perfection  of  mimicry 
is  in  the  moral  world,  deceiving  the  very  elect.  Satan  is 
transformed  into  an  angel  of  light ;  his  blasted  brow  is 
disguised  by  a  wreath,  his  fiery  darts  seem  glittering 
sceptres,  the  smoke  of  his  torment  goes  up  as  incense. 
Sin  rarely  comes  as  ugliness,  disease,  death ;  in  the  mas- 
querade of  life  it  is  the  cunningest  dissembler  of  all,  flatter- 
ing our  vanity,  confusing  our  judgment,  firing  our  passions. 
A  certain  legend  relates  that  one  of  the  Biscayan  mountains 
is  accursed,  and  that  Satan  dwells  there.  The  grass  is 
withered,  a  sinister  hue  rests  upon  everything,  the  sounds 
are  mournful,  the  mountain  stands  a  dark  phantom  in  the 
midst  of  bedecked  nature.  But  this  is  not  the  method 
of  evil.  The  mountain  up  which  the  devil  took  our  Master, 
and  up  which  he  takes  us,  is  bathed  in  purple;  in  its  rocks 
gleam  jewels,  its  dust  is  the  dust  of  gold,  in  its  clefts  spring 
flowers,  and  from  its  crest  is  seen  the  vision  of  kingdoms 
and  the  glory  of  them.  Things,  principles,  maxims,  amuse- 
ments, relationships,  creeds,  ideals,  utterly  base  and  vile, 
are  through  the  power  of  imagination  purged  into  the  lily's 
whiteness,  perfumed  with  the  violet,  steeped  in  the  colour 


70  THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  EVIL. 

of  the  rose.  We  are  never  invited  to  sin  ;  the  things  which 
have  ruined  generations  are  pressed  upon  us  as  nature, 
freedom,  spirit,  knowledge,  gallantry,  beauty,  love,  and  we 
are  deceived  through  the  legerdemain  of  passion  and 
fancy. 

2.  Evil  is  transfigured  \iy  philosophy, 

(i)  In  matters  oi  faith  and  Worship  we  may  be  misled 
by  philosophy.  There  is  a  certain  peril  in  rationalism. 
The  Apostle  in  this  very  place  is  speaking  on  the  question 
of  faith.  "  For  such  are  false  apostles,  deceitful  workers, 
transforming  themselves  into  the  apostles  of  Christ."  The 
truth  of  Christ  has  nothing  to  fear  from  true  philosophy ; 
but  the  Apostle  speaks  of  a  philosophy  falsely  so  called, 
and  the  truth  of  Christ  has  a  great  deal  to  fear  from  this. 
There  is  a  philosophy  which  explains  the  Gospel  in  the 
sense  of  worldliness.  It  does  not  attack  the  faith  of  Christ 
as  a  false  thing,  but  it  regards  Christianity  as  a  valuable 
system  for  realizing  this  world.  It  is  favourable  to  the 
health  of  the  people ;  it  is  the  friend  of  temperance  ;  it 
encourages  economy ;  it  enjoins  principles  which  foster 
trade ;  its  influence  on  government  is  for  good.  It  is  a 
prudential  system  of  the  first  eflficacy.  Supposing  that  gain 
is  godliness,  they  patronize  the  Christian  faith  and  organiza- 
tion as  fine  instruments  of  material  aggrandizement  and 
progress.  All  the  spirituality,  the  sanctity,  the  heavenliness 
of  Christian  discipleship  are  tacitly  ignored,  and  its  profit- 
ableness is  its  grand  recommendation.  To  many  of  us  in 
the  Church  does  Satan  come  thus  transfigured,  and  under 
cover  of  securing  us  a  larger  slice  of  this  world  he  attempts 
to  cheat  us  out  of  the  divinest  elements  of  our  faith. 
There  is  a  philosophy  which  explains  the  Gospel  in  the 
sense   of  antinomianism.      Under  pretence   of  honouring 


THE  TRANSFORMATION   OF  EVIL.  7 1 

Christ,  it  transgresses  that  law  of  righteousness  which  He 
came  to  maintain  and  illustrate.  Master-delusion  this,  that 
the  devil  should  appear  as  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant, 
liberating  the  faithful  from  the  obligation  of  the  moral  law  ! 
No  depreciation  of  Christ,  no  criticism  of  His  teaching,  no 
rejection  of  any  of  the  grand  distinctive  doctrines  of 
evangelical  religion ;  no,  these  are  dwelt  upon  with  rapture, 
and  exaggerated  and  misinterpreted  in  the  interests  of  un- 
righteousness. Supremest  and  most  fatal  parody  !  There 
is  a  philosophy  which  explains  the  Gospel  in  the  sense 
of  unbelief.  False  apostles,  deceitful  workers,  urge  their 
theories  as  the  doctrines  of  Christ,  whilst  the  essentials  of  the 
faith  are  entirely  lacking  in  those  theories.  In  the  name  of 
reason,  of  independence,  of  progress,  we  are  exhorted  to 
conclusions  which  make  the  cross  of  Christ  of  none  effect. 
Many  have  philosophized  about  the  Gospel  until  they  have 
embraced  despair.  Travellers  in  the  East  are  mocked  by 
splendid  mirages  until  they  will  not  believe  in  the  real 
palms  and  streams  when  they  see  them;  and  many  for- 
saking the  simplicity  that  is  in  Christ,  and  following  first 
one  and  then  another  dazzling  theory,  come  at  last  to 
absolute  unbelief  and  hopelessness.  Atheism  comes  not 
stark  and  terrible  as  it  really  is,  but  as  an  angel  of  light. 

And  we  may  philosophize  about  the  Church  until  we 
find  ourselves  embracing  superstition.  The  Church  itself 
may  become  a  siren  alluring  us  away  from  Him  who  alone 
is  the  sinner's  peace  and  hope.  Writing  to  the  Hebrew 
Christians,  the  Apostle  admonishes  them,  ''  But  exhort  one 
another  daily,  while  it  is  called  To-day  ;  lest  any  of  you  be 
hardened  through  the  deceitfulness  of  sin."  The  special 
way  in  which  they  were  liable  to  deception  through  sin  was 
that  they  should  be  tempted  to  renounce  their  simple  faith 


72  THE  TRANSFORMATION   OF  EVlL. 

in  Christ,  and  to  return  to  an  ancient  and  magnificent 
ecclesiasticism.  Their  deep  unsophisticated  feeling  told 
them  that  they  had  found  the  bright  reality  in  Christ,  but 
they  were  in  danger  of  arguing  themselves  out  of  the  trea- 
sure they  had  found.  Satan  came  to  them  in  the  sacred 
paraphernalia  of  a  dead  religion,  and  the  danger  was  lest 
through  reasoning  and  sentiment  they  should  loose  their 
hold  of  the  living  Christ.  Is  there  no  peril  of  this  in 
our  day  ?  May  not  the  Church  become  a  snare  to  us  ? 
Indeed,  we  may  think  about  and  discuss  orders,  sacraments, 
methods,  rituals,  governments,  until  we  utterly  miss  the 
heart  of  the  whole  thing — the  knowledge  of  Christ's  love, 
the  participation  of  His  Spirit,  the  revelation  of  His  image 
in  our  character  and  life.  Never  is  sin  more  subtly 
deceitful  than  when  it  deceives  and  slays  us  through  the 
Church.  The  light  that  leads  astray  is  never  light  from 
heaven,  but  there  is  a  sacerdotal  phosphorescence  that  may 
easily  be  taken  for  the  guiding  pillar,  and  this  leads  into 
ruinous  wilds.  Christ  saves,  and  Christ  alone,  and  we  must 
beware  lest  any  transfiguration  of  ecclesiasticism  whatever 
should  hide  the  Lord  from  our  eyes. 

(2)  In  matters  of  co7iduct  we  may  be  misled  by  philo- 
sophy. What  unsophisticated  men  regard  with  simple 
abhorrence,  clever  reasoners  can  show  has  a  good  side  to 
it;  it  has  its  reason  and  its  compensation;  they  contrive 
to  give  it  quite  a  scientific  colour.  Take,  for  instance, 
the  question  of  improvidence.  A  recent  writer  says,  **  In- 
directly the  poor  man  who  brings  forth  children  he  cannot 
feed  is  a  public  benefactor ;  he  renders  the  struggle  of  life 
more  acute,  and  by  that  means  stimulates  the  energies  of 
his  race."  ^  The  simple-minded  would  instinctively  feel 
*  Nisbet,  "Marriage  and  Heredity." 


THE  TRANSFORMATION   OF   EVIL.  73 

that  a  man  who  flings  a  family  on  the  world  with  the  vague 
hope  that  somehow  it  will  be  provided  for,  is  a  shameless 
wretch,  one  who  is  entirely  a  disgrace  and  burden  to 
civilization ;  but  philosophy  finds  in  the  improvident  father 
a  patriot,  a  philosopher,  a  humanitarian — one  who  renders 
a  service  to  society  by  rendering  the  struggle  of  life  more 
acute,  who  stimulates  the  energies  of  his  race;  one  who  would 
be  decorated  by  a  gold  medal  if  the  world  only  knew  its 
benefactors.  Take  the  question  of  intemperance.  Ordi- 
nary people  would  say  straight  off  that  intemperance  was 
an  unmitigated  evil.  But  the  philosopher  can  see  in  this 
appalling  vice  a  public  benefit.  Mr.  Matthieu  Williams' 
contention  is,  "That  all  human  beings  who  are  fit  to  sur- 
vive as  members  of  a  civilized  community  will  spontaneously 
avoid  intemperance,  whilst  those  who  are  incapable  of  the 
general  self-restraint  demanded  by  advancing  civilization, 
and  who  cannot  share  its  moral  and  intellectual  refine- 
ments, are  provided  by  alcoholic  beverages  with  the  means 
of  '  happy  despatch,'  and  they  will  be  gradually  sifted  out 
by  natural  alcoholic  selection  provided  nobody  interferes 
with  their  desire  for  a  short  life  and  a  merry  one."  ^  So 
alcohol  is  a  splendid  instrument  of  civilization,  eliminating 
the  feebler  members  of  the  community;  and  its  further 
benign  action  is  displayed  in  clearing  out  heathen  tribes, 
and  in  preparing  the  way  for  superior  races.  So  the  sot  is 
an  unconscious  philosopher ;  drunkenness  is  one  of  nature's 
exquisite  arrangements  for  keeping  things  up  to  the  mark. 
Take  the  question  of  impurity.  Mr.  Sinclair  says,  "  What 
we  call  prostitutes  are  not  the  worst,  but  generally  the  best, 
of  the  lower  classes ;  people  of  fine  physique  (and  as 
Spenser  says,  the  soul,  if  it  gets  fair  play,  corresponds  to  the 
*  Ackroyd,  •'  The  History  and  the  Science  of  Drunkenness.*' 


74  THE   TRANSFORMATION   OF   EVIL. 

body),  who  cannot  get  their  true  match  in  the  sphere  where 
born,  and  must,  by  the  hoHest  of  all  instincts,  that  of  truth, 
seek  upward  by  any  means."  ^  What  a  different  thing 
prostitution  must  seem  when  we  have  once  persuaded  our- 
selves that  it  is  the  result  of  holiest  instinct  seeking  up- 
ward !  Mr.  Cotter  Morison  exalts  "  the  barren  prostitute  " 
at  the  expense  of  "the  prolific  spouse."  The  Fortnightly 
Review  has  just  reminded  us  that  adultery  may  be  regarded 
merely  as  a  "  new  experiment  in  living."  Mr.  Lilly  declares 
that  one  of  the  ugly  symptoms  of  our  day  is  "  the  apotheosis 
of  prostitution,  which  is  a  distinctive  note  of  our  epoch."  ^ 
So  lust  has  contrived  to  disguise  and  adorn  itself  in  the 
language  of  philosophy. 

Take  the  question  of  war.  Powerful  and  sincere  writers 
vindicate  war  as  natural,  rational,  necessary,  inevitable. 
They  assure  us  "  that  war,  in  a  certain  due  degree,  must 
be  regarded  as  one  of  the  good  things  of  the  world,  and 
its  so-called  evils  should  be  regarded  as  incidental,  and  as 
being  of  less  moment  than  the  good  which  it  effects ;  "  "  it 
is  a  sacrifice  to  the  cause  of  progress ; "  "  it  is  a  less  good 
to  bring  about  a  greater  good; "  "it  is  as  wholesome  as  a 
lightning-storm ; "  "  the  torch  of  war  lights  the  beacon  of 
civilization."  ^  War  is  the  school  of  virtue ;  it  is  the  nurse 
of  heroism;  progress  rides  on  the  powder-cart.  "We 
must  fight  like  men,  not  like  tigers,"  which  really  means 
we  must  fight  like  devils ;  and  "  the  object  of  thoughtful 
men  must  be  to  refine  war  rather  than  to  seek  to  abolish 
it."  So  the  ghastly  evil  is  justified  by  philosophy  as  it  is 
adorned  by  poetry.  With  majestic  simpHcity  St.  James 
asks  and  answers  the  question,  "Whence  come  wars  and 

'  "Quest."  =  "  Right  and  Wrong." 

'  James  Ram,  "  The  Philosophy  of  War." 


THE  TRANSFORMATION   OF   EVIL.  75 

fightings  among  you  ?  come  they  not  of  your  lusts  which 
war  in  your  members  ?  "  But  philosophy  forbids  that  we 
call  war  lust,  pride,  hate,  injustice,  inhumanity,  murder, 
savagery,  devilry ;  it  is  purely  "  the  prosecution  of  Nature's 
plan  for  the  advancement  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  to 
higher  and  higher  forms  of  being."  And  not  content  with 
affirming  that  certain  evils  are  "  necessary  evils,"  serving  a 
larger  or  a  higher  good,  philosophy  boldly  declares  that 
there  is  no  evil  at  all.  Good  and  evil  are  to  be  regarded 
as  different  degrees  of  the  same  thing ;  the  world  is  a 
mingled  system,  not  of  good  and  evil,  but  of  greater  good 
and  lesser  good.  A  heap  of  refuse  fills  us  with  disgust,  but 
chemistry  distils  from  the  foul  mass  splendours  and  per- 
fumes ;  so  out  of  war,  drink,  prostitution,  waste,  violence, 
come  all  sorts  of  fine  qualities,  superiorities  of  character, 
riches  of  civilization.  Here  Satan  receives  his  final 
apotheosis,  his  completest  transfiguration — he  is  nature,  he 
is  reason,  he  is  goodness,  he  is  progress.  The  raiment  of 
the  transfigured  Master  was  whiter  than  "  any  fuller  on 
earth  could  whiten  it."  Yet  these  "fullers  on  earth"  do 
some  wonderful  bleaching.  They  take  the  rags  of  laziness, 
the  filthy  robes  of  impudicity,  the  garments  rolled  in  blood, 
the  vesture  of  the  drunkard  stained  with  vomit,  and  if  they 
do  not  make  these  whiter  than  snow,  they  at  least  make 
them  highly  respectable.  The  devil  is  never  more  dangerous 
than  when  transfigured  in  the  light  of  science  and  philo- 
sophy, and  he  was  never  more  glorified  in  that  light  than 
he  is  now. 

3.  Evil  is  transfigured  by  society.  The  world  has  many 
ways  of  hiding  the  false  and  the  foul;  many  devices  for 
making  the  false  and  foul  quite  alluring.  The  practical 
world  is  a  great  transformation  scene,  where  the  imp  often 


76  THE   TRANSFORMATION   OF   EVIL. 

appears  a  fairy,  and  the  beast,  beauty.  Sin  is  softened  and 
silvered  by  the  glozing  language  in  which  it  is  spoken  of. 
Acts  of  revenge  are  vindicated  when  they  are  called  ''affairs 
of  honour ; "  debt  is  innocency  itself  when  known  as 
"pecuniary  obligation;"  slavery  has  lost  its  horror  when 
it  reappears  as  "the  peculiar  institution,"  or  as  "a  form 
of  economic  subordination;"  social  tyranny  is  beyond 
suspicion  baptized  as  "  exclusive  dealing ; "  libertinism  is 
purged  of  all  taint  when  characterized  as  "  gay  life ;"  the 
most  brutal  gladiatorship  has  suffered  a  change  into  some- 
thing rich  and  strange  when  it  becomes  "  the  noble  art  of 
self-defence ; "  and  gluttony  no  longer  disgusts  when  it  is 
suggested  as  "  a  love  of  good  things."  Euphony  plays  off 
rare  deceptions  in  the  masquerade  of  life.  Sin  is  often 
dangerously  transformed  in  the  fashions  of  society.  Through 
ages  society  has  gained  an  exquisite  skill  in  enjoying  the 
pleasures  of  sin  whilst  still  stripping  that  sin  of  its  grossness. 
Pride,  lust,  selfishness,  indolence,  gluttony,  dishonesty, 
abound  in  the  social  circle,  but  the  revolting  features  of 
these  vices  are  lost  under  the  paint  and  powder  of  fashion, 
the  blandishments  of  taste,  the  lustre  of  gold,  the  affectations 
of  courtesy,  philanthropy,  and  piety.  And  never  was  there 
an  age  more  dangerous  in  this  respect  than  our  own.  In 
the  customs  of  the  world,  too,  evil  is  often  transfigured. 
Injustice,  fraud,  selfishness,  inhumanity,  are  so  disguised 
in  trade,  in  amusements,  in  politics,  that  thousands  fail  to 
recognize  the  dark  reality.  Satan  is  transformed  into  an 
angel  of  light — he  appears  appealingly  as  custom,  law, 
pleasure,  enterprise,  patriotism. 

But  however  oblique  evil  may  be  in  its  approach,  how- 
ever changed  in  its  shape,  whatever  a/ms  it  may  be  known 
by,  its  action  is  equally  ruinous.     The  arrow  is  not  the  less 


THE   TRANSFORMATION   OF    EVIL.  jy 

fatal  because  it  is  shot  from  ambush,  and  winged  with 
peacock's  or  eagle's  feather.  "  Whose  end  shall  be  accord- 
ing to  their  works."  At  once  are  we  deceived  and  destroyed. 
In  the  legend,  the  Duchess  Isabella,  wishing  earnestly  to 
obtain  some  object,  was  instructed  by  the  crafty  court 
astrologer  to  kiss  day  by  day  for  a  hundred  days  a  certain 
beautiful  picture,  and  she  would  receive  the  fulfilment  of 
her  wish.  It  was  a  sinister  trick,  for  the  picture  contained 
a  subtle  poison  which  stained  the  lips  with  every  salutation. 
Little  by  little  the  golden  tresses  of  the  queenly  woman 
turned  white,  her  eyes  became  dim,  her  colour  faded,  her 
lips  became  black;  but,  infatuated,  the  suicidal  kiss  was 
continued  until  before  the  hundred  days  were  complete  the 
royal  dupe  lay  dead.  So  we  yield  ourselves  to  the  sorcery 
of  sin ;  despite  many  warnings,  we  persist  in  our  fellowship 
with  what  seems  truth,  beauty,  liberty,  pleasure,  until  our 
whole  soul  is  poisoned  and  destroyed.  "  There  is  a  way 
that  seemeth  right  unto  a  man,  but  the  end  thereof  are 
the  ways  of  death." 

II.  We  indicate  the  path  of  safety  amid  these  dangerous 
illusions. 

I.  Let  us  not  forget  that  the  chief  danger  of  life  lies  in 
this  7fioral  illusion.  It  is  often  hard  to  persuade  us  that 
there  is  any  such  danger  of  deception ;  we  have  the  feeling 
that  vice  is  a  horrible  thing,  and  we  flatter  ourselves  that 
we  can  immediately  spot  it,  wherever,  whenever,  and  how- 
ever it  may  reveal  itself.  But  such  confidence  is  false,  and 
places  us  in  jeopardy.  Life  brings  many  deceptions  with 
it,  and  it  is  the  mark  of  an  intelligent  man  to  be  on  his 
guard  against  these  deceptions.  The  scientist  knows  that 
the  first  testimony  of  the  senses  is  not  always  to  be  relied 
upon ;  he  believes  his  eyes,  but  takes  great  pains  so  that 


78  THE   TRANSFORMATION    OF   EVIL. 

he  may  be  sure  he  sees  truly.  The  connoisseur  is  equally 
careful ;  knowing  the  craft  of  men,  he  does  not  accept 
things  because  they  are  labelled  with  great  names,  but 
subjects  the  vase,  the  bronze,  the  picture,  to  a  rigorous 
criticism.  The  business  man  knows  the  prevalence  of 
trickery  in  his  province,  and  acts  warily.  This  need  of 
caution  is  specially  called  for  in  the  moral  world.  A 
celebrated  naturalist  tells  us  that  one  day  he  saw  a  bird 
drowning  in  a  lake,  and  he  felt  sure  that  the  bird  had 
mistaken  the  water  for  the  sky ;  it  was  a  bright  transparent 
day,  the  clear  calm  lake  reflected  the  sky  and  the  whole 
landscape  in  its  depths,  and  the  bird,  not  discerning  that 
the  world  below  it  was  a  world  of  shadows,  w^as  betrayed 
to  its  doom.  So  all  the  glories  of  the  upper  world  appear 
inverted  in  the  world  of  evil.  The  lofty,  the  pure,  the 
beautiful,  the  bright,  are  all  seductively  reflected  in  the 
depths  of  Satan ;  they  are  exaggerated  there,  they  are  seen 
in  surpassing  magnitude  and  splendour;  error  seems 
some  nobler  truth,  disobedience  some  larger  liberty,  for- 
bidden things  seem  the  sweetest  flowers  and  mellowest 
fruits  of  Paradise.  So  are  incautious  souls  betrayed ;  they 
are  deceived  by  the  false  images  of  high  and  noble  things 
until  they  lose  the  power  of  their  wings,  and  find  them- 
selves perishing  in  a  grosser  element.  We  need  ever  to  be 
on  the  watch,  seeing  that  Satan  conceals  his  fell  purposes 
under  fair  pretences,  as  the  Greek  assassins  concealed  their 
swords  in  myrtle  branches.  On  watch  over  ourselves. 
That  we  ''put  away  the  old  man,  which  waxeth  corrupt 
after  the  lusts  of  deceit."  On  watch  against  those  who 
would  teach  us.  "  Beware  lest  any  man  spoil  you  through 
philosophy  and  vain  deceit,  after  the  tradition  of  men,  after 
the  rudiments  of  the  world,  and  not  after  Christ."     On 


THE   TRxVNSFORMATION    OF   EVIL,  79 

watch -against  the  Church.  The  ecclesiastical  sphere  has 
its  own  most  dangerous  illusions.  On  watch  against  the 
world  wherever  it  touches  us.  We  must  guard  ourselves 
against  the  pride  of  knowledge,  the  deceitfulness  of  riches, 
the  phantasms  of  greatness,  the  narcotism  of  worldliness, 
the  hypnotism  of  beauty.  Ruskin  says  that  he  is  aware  of 
no  effort  to  represent  the  Satanic  mind  in  the  angelic  form 
that  has  succeeded  in  painting ;  if  so,  painting  must  be  the 
only  medium  in  which  the  infernal  element  has  not  found 
angelic  form,  although  we  all  know  that  it  has  found 
expression  there  also.  The  Bible  is  full  of  the  idea  of  the 
deceitfulness  of  sin,  it  constantly  represents  temptation  as 
sorcery,  it  is  never  weary  of  showing  that  life  has  become  a 
maze  of  black  arts;  and  so  far  from  teaching  that  these 
illusions,  shadows,  mirages,  are  easily  seen  through,  it 
declares  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  tasks  of  life  to 
see  sin  as  sin,  and  to  preserve  ourselves  from  its  blinding, 
corrupting,  defiling  magic. 

2.  Let  us  be  sincere  in  soul.  How  much  depends  upon 
this  sincerity  of  spirit !  upon  the  integrity  of  our  purpose 
in  life  !  Very  instructive  on  this  point  are  the  words  of 
the  Apostle  to  the  Thessalonians  :  "  Then  shall  be  revealed 
the  lawless  one,  whose  coming  is  according  to  the  working 
of  Satan  with  all  power  and  signs  and  lying  wonders,  and 
with  all  deceit  of  unrighteousness  for  them  that  are  perish- 
ing ;  because  they  received  not  the  love  of  the  truth,  that 
they  might  be  saved.  And  for  this  cause  God  sendeth 
them  a  working  of  error,  that  they  should  believe  a  lie  : 
that  they  all  might  be  judged  who  believed  not  the  truth, 
but  had  pleasure  in  unrighteousness."  Here  was  the  secret 
of  their  deep  blindness — they  received  not  the  love  of  the 
truth,  but  had  pleasure  in  unrighteousness.     Not  only  have 


80  THE  TRANSFORMATION    OF   EVIL. 

they  not  received  the  Christian  truth  presented  to  them ; 
for  it  might  be  still  conceivable  that  they  highly  esteemed 
the  truth  itself  and  felt  themselves  drawn  to  it,  although 
in  consequence  of  spiritual  blindness  they  had  not  known 
and  recognized  Christianity  as  an  embodiment  and  full 
expression  of  the  truth ;  but  they  have  not  even  received 
into  their  hearts  the  love  of  the  truth  under  whatever  form 
it  may  be  presented  to  them ;  they  have  rendered  them- 
selves entirely  unsusceptible  of  the  truth,  they  have  hardened 
themselves  against  it.^  Under  all  the  deception  by  which 
we  are  deceived  is  self-deception— a  secret  willingness  to 
be  deceived  because  we  have  pleasure  in  unrighteousness 
and  purpose  to  follow  it.  This  is  often  the  simple  reason 
why  we  cannot  see  through  the  sophistry  of  the  heretic, 
the  artifices  of  the  tempter.  "  The  pride  of  thine  heart 
hath  deceived  thee,"  do  we  read  of  Edom  in  the  vision  of 
Obadiah.  And  at  other  times  do  we  deceive  our  *'own 
selves "  by  the  impurity,  the  covetousness,  the  hatred,  we 
cherish  in  our  heart. 

It  is  this  fact  that  makes  us  guilty.  "  And  for  this  cause 
God  sendeth  them  a  working  of  error,  that  they  should 
believe  a  lie."  We  might  be  disposed  to  ask,  Are  we  not 
to  be  pitied  for  this  liability  to  deception  ?  We  are  sorry 
for  the  bird  caught  by  some  glittering  snare,  for  the  fish 
lured  by  some  appetizing  bait,  for  the  animal  trapped  in 
some  cunningly  prepared  pit,  and  are  we  not  to  feel  a 
similar  but  far  keener  sympathy  with  men  and  women  and 
children  ensnared  by  transfigured  evil?  But  we  ^cannot 
feel  this  sympathy  with  men  because  we  know  how  they 
have  contributed  to  their  own  ruin;  had  they  lived  in 
perfect  sincerity  of  heart  they  could  not  have  been  thus 
'  Meyer. 


THE   TRANSFORMATION   OF   EVIL.  8 1 

victimized.  An  adventurer  waits  upon  you  one  of  these 
days  and  offers  you  on  terms  absurdly  easy  some  diamond- 
field  in  Africa,  or  silver-mine  in  Nevada,  or  ruby-mine  in 
Burmah — a  few  shares  at  a  trifling  cost  will  make  you  a 
millionaire.  You  are  smitten,  your  brain  is  filled  with 
pleasant  dreams,  and  with  the  least  investigation  you  invest 
your  good  money  to  find  ere  long  that  you  have  been 
cruelly  deceived.  Will  the  public  greatly  pity  you  ?  They 
will  not.  There  was  a  personal  moral  fault  at  the  bottom 
of  your  misfortune.  You  were  willingly  ignorant,  you 
were  easily  blinded,  because  of  your  inordinate  desires. 
So  is  it  in  all  the  temptations  of  life  to  which  we  fall  a  prey. 
A  certain  morbid  disposition  of  soul  is  the  secret  of  our 
loss  or  ruin.  "The  wicked  one  cometh,  but  he  hath 
nothing  in  Me,"  said  the  Master;  no  temper  of  vanity, 
passion,  anger,  greed,  was  in  Him,  and  so  He  was  safe  in 
every  dangerous  hour.  Let  us  seek  this  integrity  of  soul 
and  it  shall  preserve  us.  Let  us  vow  with  the  psalmist,  *'  I 
will  behave  myself  wisely  in  a  perfect  way.  I  will  set  no 
wicked  thing  before  mine  eyes  :  I  hate  the  work  of  them 
that  turn  aside ;  it  shall  not  cleave  to  me.  A  fro  ward 
heart  shall  depart  from  me ;  I  will  not  know  wickedness." 
The  single-hearted  are  clear-eyed,  and  without  blindness, 
presumption,  confusion,  haste,  they  find  and  keep  the 
pathway  of  life.  Sincerity,  modesty,  purity  of  spirit,  will 
preserve  us  whenever  Satan  comes  as  an  angel  of  light, 
enabling  us  to  recognize  the  dark  reality  despite  all  paint, 
powder,  and  spangles,  rendering  us  proof  against  all  the 
magic,  ventriloquism,  necromancy,  and  palmistry  of  evil. 

"  That  which  is  not  good,  is  not  dehcious 
To  a  well-govern'd  and  %Yise  appetite." 

3.  Let  US   respect  the  written   Law,     The   Bible  is  a 

G— 14 


82  THE  TRANSFORMATION   OF  EVIL. 

wonderful  book  for  destroying  the  glamour  of  sin,  for 
exposing  its  sophistries  and  lies.  The  Apostle  in  the 
Romans  uses  these  words  :  "  But  sin,  that  it  might  appear 
sin."  Now,  that  is  the  last  thing  that  sin  desires  to  do — to 
appear  sin.  It  is  wishful  to  appear  anything  but  that,  to  be 
called  by  any  name  but  that.  It  likes  to  be  called  by  grand 
names  when  possible — spirit,  liberty,  breadth,  greatness, 
manliness,  gallantry,  glory ;  it  is  partial  to  philosophical 
names — indecision,  hesitation,  limitation,  imperfection,  and 
the  like ;  it  is  satisfied  with  apologetic  epithets — ignorance, 
inexperience,  infirmity,  oversight,  indiscretion,  imprudence ; 
it  is  rather  partial  to  humorous  names ;  it  will  consent 
to  be  known  by  equivocal  names— cleverness,  smartness, 
foxiness ;  it  will  even  submit  to  such  designations  as  foolish- 
ness, looseness,  shabbiness  ;  but  it  will  not  appear  as  sin^  as 
the  violation  of  the  good  and  holy  Law  of  God,  with  all  that 
such  violation  implies.  But  the  Law  of  God  as  given  in  \ 
revelation,  searches  out  sin,  compels  it  to  declare  itself,  its  / 
name,  its  essence,  its  workings,  its  issues.  It  strips  evil  of  ^ 
its  glamour,  and  shows  it  in  its  true  and  awful  character. 

Revelation  makes  palpable  the  sophistry  of  sin.  It 
exposes  the  deceitfulness  of  the  heart.  John  Morley  says 
of  Rousseau,  '*He  had  an  amazing  skill  in  finding  a  certain 
ingeniously  contrived  largeness  for  his  motives."  But  we 
all  have  much  of  this  skill  and  contrive  this  largeness  of 
motive  for  the  basest  and  most  miserable  acts.  How 
revelation  makes  manifest  the  real  thoughts  of  our  heart, 
and  discovers  the  falsity  of  those  fine  arguments  of  lust 
"  prank'd  in  reason's  garb  "  !  How  revelation  strips  away 
the  pretences  of  philosophy  !  Just  as  a  serene  and  logical 
judge  follows  some  impassioned  advocate,  and  mercilessly 
exposes  his  eloquent  sophistry,  stating  coldly  the  real  facts 


THE  TRANSFORMATION   OF   EVIL.  S^ 

of  the  case,  the  just  sequence  of  events,  the  clear  signifi- 
cance of  the  evidence,  thereby  destroying  the  whole  force 
of  the  orator's  dazzling  spell  which  for  awhile  held  and  mis- 
led the  court ;  so  revelation  searches  out  the  vain  rhetoric 
and  sentiment  of  evil,  exhibiting  its  profound  irrationality,  and 
frustrating  the  mighty  eloquence  of  wickedness.  Nothing 
is  more  wonderful  than  to  pass  from  the  philosophic  page, 
where  the  reality  and  mischief  of  sin  are  hidden  by  dazzling 
fence,  to  the  sacred  page,  where  the  same  sin  comes  out  in 
its  naked  horror,  and  the  arguments  that  would  justify  or 
palliate  it  are  seen  to  be  miserable  lies.  How  revelation 
pierces  the  maxims  by  which  society  excuses  its  follies  and 
vices !  A  man  whose  soul  is  saturated  by  the  profound 
and  serious  truths  of  his  Bible  walks  through  Vanity  Fair 
with  an  altogether  unenchanted  eye.  Revelation  makes 
palpable  the  Jiorroroi  sin.  It  compels  the  transformed  devil 
to  return  to  his  true  shape,  and  to  confess  himself  utterly 
abominable.  Critics  complain  that  the  fiends  of  Milton 
and  Goethe  are  too  noble,  and  that  they  elicit  more  or  less 
of  admiration  and  sympathy  instead  of  creating  in  us  un- 
mitigated horror  and  hatred.  But  wickedness  on  the 
sacred  page  is  ignoble  enough — it  has  lost  the  splendour 
of  its  dress,  the  glitter  of  its  gauds,  the  grandeur  of  its 
shape,  the  music  of  its  voice,  all  the  sorcery  that  bewitched 
the  nations ;  it  is  mean,  vulgar,  dirty,  ugly,  loathsome, 
hateful,  contemptible,  brutal,  devilish.  Here  we  plainly 
see  that  the  transformation  of  Satan  into  an  angel  of  light 
means  some  counter-transformations  far  more  real  and 
lasting,  in  which 

"The  express  resemblance  of  the  gods,  is  changVl 
Into  some  brutish  form  of  wolf,  or  bear  ; 
Or  ounce,  or  tiger,  hog,  or  bearded  goat." 


84  THE  TRANSFORMATION   OF  EVIL. 

Revelation  makes  palpable  the  fniits  of  sin.  Dragging 
forth  into  the  light  that  which  sin  is  most  anxious  to  hide. 
Under  Eden's  tempting  cluster  it  shows  us  Abel's  corpse ; 
David's  licentiousness  is  linked  with  Absalom's  rebellion 
and  the  rent  kingdom ;  Gehazi's  purple  clothes  make  a 
background  for  his  scaly  face  \  Judas'  pieces  of  silver 
purchase  the  field  of  blood  ;  indeed,  throughout,  revelation 
boldly  and  faithfully  declares,  what  it  dramatizes  on  its 
last  pages  in  the  wreck  of  the  splendid  Babylon,  that  all 
the  gaiety  and  glory  of  sin  must  be  swallowed  up  in  shame, 
plague,  and  torment. 

Once  our  Master  encountered  Satan  in  his  uttermost 
transfiguration,  seeking  to  cheat  the  eye  and  soul  with  the 
vision  of  the  kingdoms  and  the  glory  of  them.  With  the 
words,  *'  It  is  written,"  our  tempted  Lord  pricked  one 
gorgeous  bubble  after  another;  and  we  must  follow  His 
example.  Here  on  the  pages  of  prophets  and  apostles 
is  the  euphrasy  to  purge  our  vision.  The  lover  of  the  Holy 
Book  shall  be  delivered  from  the  power  of  false  ideals ;  he 
shall  see  light  in  God's  light ;  he  shall  be  kept  from  every 
false  way. 

4.  Let  us  constantly  behold  the  vision  of  God.  It  is  only 
as  we  rise  by  contemplation,  prayer,  faith,  to  the  vision  of 
God  and  of  that  perfect  universe  of  which  He  is  the  Centre, 
that  the  transfiguration  of  evil  loses  its  power.  In  the 
presence  of  the  Divine  perfection  all  imperfection  comes 
to  light,  all  human  imperfection  ;  yea,  the  heavens  are  not 
clean  in  His  sight,  and  His  angels  He  charges  with  folly. 
But  if  in  the  glory  of  the  Throne  the  firstborn  sons  of 
light  see  all  their  brightest  glories  fade,  how  shall  the 
fallen  angels  look  there?  *' Satan  fashioneth  himself  into 
an  angel  of  light "  (R.V.).     And  a  very  middling  angel  he 


THE  TRANSFORMATION   OF  EVIL.  85 

makes  of  himself  at  best.  When  with  utmost  strain  he  has 
lifted  himself  above  himself,  he  is  but  a  rude  phantom  of 
the  four- winged  cherubim  seen  by  Ezekiel,  of  the  six-winged 
seraphim  whom  Isaiah  heard  crying  the  one  to  the  other, 
of  the  angels  of  glory  who  irradiate  the  Apocalypse.  Do 
what  they  may  in  profoundest  guile,  Molocb,  Belial, 
Mammon,  Lucifer,  can  never  simulate  the  brightness  and 
grace  of  Michael,  Gabriel,  Raphael,  Uriel.  There  are 
always  rude  revealing  rents  in  the  cunningest  disguises  of 
evil ;  its  currency,  stamped  with  royal  imagery,  rings  badly  ; 
a  certain  falsetto  strain  runs  through  its  sweetest  music ; 
there  is  a  seaminess  in  its  robes  of  beauty  and  glory  ;  its 
hand  is  never  so  white  but  the  blood-stain  and  the  flesh- 
spot  are  there ;  and  although  girt  with  golden  wings,  there 
is  a  betraying  stoop  in  its  greatness,  an  infallible  sign  of  its 
fallen  nature  in  its  downcast  eyes.  He  who  dwells  in  the 
love,  who  constantly  gazes  on  the  face  of  God,  will  see 
through  all  false  things,  and  be  secure  from  the  inveigle- 
ments of  the  powers  of  the  air.  And  there  is  no  safety 
but  in  this — in  the  familiarity  of  the  soul  with  the  patterns 
of  things  heavenly  which  God  shows  to  His  elect  in  the 
Mount. 

And  we  are  speaking  of  no  abstract,  mystical  thing 
when  we  speak  of  the  vision  of  God.  We  see  the  glory  of 
God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  Jesus  Christ  must 
we  bring  whatever  thing  or  theory  may  solicit  us.  In  His 
light  we  shall  know  exactly  what  is  true  in  riches,  liberty, 
greatness,  honour,  pleasure.  Oh,  how  the  false  and  rotten 
shrivel  in  His  presence !  What  a  penetrating  glance  He 
has  !  What  a  revealing  touch  !  What  a  convicting  word  ! 
The  eye  that  looks  on  Him  cannot  be  deceived.  When 
philosophy   would   confuse    you,   the    maxims   of  society 


86  THE  TRANSFORMATION   OF  EVIL. 

flatter  you,  the  customs  and  fashions  of  the  world  beguile 
and  betray  you,  go  to  Christ  and  try  all  things  by  His 
example,  His  Word,  His  Spirit.  Take  care  that  you  discuss 
no  question  without  Him;  that  you  settle  no  question 
without  Him.  Put  everything  into  His  hand,  as  of  old 
they  put  the  penny,  and  abide  by  His  judgment.  Those 
who  live  in  this  high  fellowship  will  forthwith  find  trans- 
figured demons  to  be  what  they  really  are  ;  they  will  put 
from  them  promptly  and  decisively  the  golden  cup  with  its 
wine  of  fornication. 


THE    PLEA   OF   EVIL. 


7fe^5  ^«7^^-,   '^^ 


THE    PLEA    OF    EVIL. 

"And  there  was  in  their  synagogue  a  man  with  an  unclean  spirit ; 
and  he  cried  out,  saying,  Let  us  alone." — Mark  i.  23,  24. 

Much  that  is  strange  is  involved  in  the  question  of  de- 
moniacal possession,  but  we  know  so  much  about  "the 
mystery  of  iniquity"  that  we  need  not  be  greatly  aston- 
ished at  this  breaking  forth  of  diabolism  through  the 
material  world,  which  is  indeed  only  a  particular  episode 
of  an  infinitely  larger  question;  enough  for  us  that  this 
narrative. sets  forth  in  a  vivid  manner  the  supernaturalism 
of  evil,  and  the  power  of  Christ  to  grant  sweet  release  from 
ihe  awful  tyranny. 

I.  We  consider,  first,  the  plea  of  eviL  "Let  us  alone." 
This  is  the  standing  plea  of  evil;  it  demands  that  it 
shall  not  be  meddled  with,  that  no  efibrt  shall  be  made 
to  restrict  or  dispossess  it. 

I.  It  is  the  plea  oi  personal  evil.  We  first  hear  this 
cry  in  the  nursery.  We  are  shocked  by  the  sight  of  the 
demoniac  boy  brought  by  his  father  to  the  foot  of  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration,  but  the  sight  of  young  life  torn 
and  stained  and  tormented  by  awful  tempers  and  passions 
is  quite  familiar  to  us  all.  The  children  of  wrath  claim, 
however,  to  be  let  alone.  Rebuke  their  cruelty,  injustice, 
selfishness,  greediness,  ingratitude,  and  their  tiny  treble 
protests  against  the  unwarrantable  interference.    In  maturer 


90  THE   PLEA  OF   EVIL. 

life  it  is  the  same.  How  impatient  and  resentful  young 
people  often  are  when  a  faithful  word  is  spoken  to  them  ! 
And  older  sinners  feel  themselves  wronged  and  insulted 
when  they  are  similarly  admonished.  In  effect  they  say, 
Mind  your  own  business,  do  not  invade  our  prerogative, 
do  not  disturb  our  pleasure,  do  not  harass  us  with  your 
circumscriptions;  let  us  alone.  Many  a  faithful  ministry 
has  been  repudiated  because  it  bore  hard  on  the  incon- 
sistent members  of  the  congregation.  The  prophet  has 
been  stoned,  the  apostle  beheaded,  the  martyr  burned, 
nay,  Christ  Himself  was  crucified,  because  they  reproved 
the  sins  of  the  people,  because  they  would  not  let  wicked- 
ness alone.  The  poor  demoniac  treated  his  Saviour  as 
if  He  had  been  his  tormentor,  and  in  all  generations  those 
who  are  possessed  by  the  spirit  of  evil  resent  criticism  and 
interference ;  they  demand  toleration  and  immunity. 

And  this  is  the  attitude  of  evil  when  we  come  to  deal 
with  it  in  our  own  heart;  confronted  by  good,  it  boldly 
claims  right  and  privilege.  We  might  have  supposed  that 
in  the  presence  of  Jesus  the  demons  would  have  been  mute, 
that  they  would  have  shrunk  from  the  awful  Presence ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  we  find  their  attitude  assertive  and  defiant. 
"  When  the  commandment  came,  sin  revived ; "  in  other 
words,  in  response  to  the  action  of  the  Law  upon  the 
Apostle's  conscience,  sin  asserted  itself;  it  awoke  up  like 
a  wild  beast  disturbed  in  its  lair ;  it  lifted  up  its  voice,  put 
out  its  claws,  showed  its  fangs,  glared,  snarled,  foamed, 
hissed,  and  defiantly  claimed  to  be  let  alone.  The  carnal 
mind  asserts  its  right  to  be,  and  insolently  rages  when 
confronted  with  the  claims  of  truth  and  love  and  righteous- 
ness— rages  most  of  all  when  confronted  with  the  beauty 
of  Jesus  Christ. 


THE    PLEA   OF   EVIL.  9I 

2.  It  is  the  plea  of  public  evil.  The  moment  reformers 
attempt  to  deal  with  any  social  wrong,  any  pernicious 
institution,  or  custom,  or  trade,  or  law,  they  are  challenged 
after  this  fashion.  It  is  so  when  idolatry  is  attacked.  Not 
only  do  the  heathen  themselves  rage  and  the  people  imagine 
a  vain  thing,  but  the  clamorous  pagan  finds  partisans  in 
the  very  heart  of  our  civilization.  Influential  men  and 
eloquent  writers  do  their  utmost  to  discredit  missionary 
enterprise ;  they  contend  that  it  is  taking  an  unfair  advan- 
tage, that  it  is  an  injustice,  an  impertinence  on  our  part, 
to  attempt  to  disturb  the  pagan  in  his  ancestral  faith  and 
worship,  no  matter  how  dark  and  bloody  his  religious 
system  may  be.  The  same  cry  is  repeated  when  slavery 
is  attacked.  It  is  alleged  that  slavery  is  an  ancient  insti- 
tution, having  a  necessary  place  in  the  education  of  the 
race,  and  that  it  is  mere  fanaticism  to  preach  about  the 
higher  law,  and  to  attempt  the  abolition  of  a  system  which 
is  such  a  precious  instrument  of  discipline.  It  is  the  same 
when  war  is  attacked.  No  sooner  is  the  white  flag  of  the 
peacemaker  unfurled  than  the  red  spectre  yells  and  shrieks, 
"Begone  with  your  effeminate  notions,  your  international 
aibitrations,  your  sentimentalisms  and  hypocrisies,  and  leave 
us  alone  in  our  glory."  It  is  so  when  intemperance  is 
attacked.  It  is  scouted  as  an  offence  against  liberty  that 
any  should  attempt  to  criticize  or  restrain  a  dangerous 
trade.  It  is  so  when  impurity  is  attacked.  When  we  turn 
over  a  stone  by  the  side  of  a  ditch,  there  is  a  scattering  of 
an  ugly  population  who  shoot  out  their  stings ;  and  when 
light  is  let  into  the  infamous  places  of  society,  great  and 
fierce  is  the  outcry. 

And  when  evil  dare  not  claim  absolute  immunity,  it 
pleads  for  toleration  and  delay.     "  And,  behold,  they  cried 


92  THE   PLEA  OF   EVIL. 

out,  saying,  What  have  we  to  do  with  Thee,  Jesus,  Thou 
Son  of  God?  art  Thou  come  hither  to  torment  us  before 
the  time  ?  "  Satan  is  a  great  believer  in  the  tardiest  form 
of  evolution,  and  greatly  objects  to  the  leaps  and  bounds 
which  would  limit  or  abolish  his  authority.  How  con- 
stantly do  we  witness  this  pleading  for  fine  gradations  in 
the  elimination  of  evil !  In  the  individual  we  often  find 
this ;  evil  habits  are  to  be  broken  slowly  for  fear  of  the 
consequences  of  sudden  change,  and  evil  passions  are  to 
be  cleansed  slowly,  with  the  deliberate  belief  that  only 
thus  can  they  be  cleansed  effectually.  And  constantly  the 
community  is  exercised  lest  things  of  sin  and  shame  should 
be  removed  prematurely.  A  false  faith  is  not  to  be  too 
vigorously  condemned ;  it  has  its  educational  work  to  do, 
and  must  be  left  to  do  it.  A  bad  institution  must  not  be 
renounced  sharply  and  thoroughly;  it  must  be  modified 
by  degrees.  The  slave  was  to  be  liberated  through  *'  the 
apprenticeship  system,"  and  all  evil  that  feels  itself  doomed 
argues  for  the  adoption  of  this  prudent,  rational,  statesman- 
like, philosophical  method.  We  are  to  touch  the  rottenness 
delicately,  lest  the  pillared  firmament  should  be  rudely 
shaken ;  we  must  remove  the  stubble  piecemeal,  lest  earth's 
base  should  fail.  To  attempt  a  sudden  exorcism  of  evil  is 
deprecated  on  the  ground  of  sound  and  rational  progress. 

We  speak  sometimes  of  certain  evils  as  "  crying  evils," 
that  is,  as  crying  for  attention,  redress,  abolition;  but 
attempt  to  deal  with  them,  and  you  at  once  become  aware 
that  their  loudest  cry  is  to  be  let  alone.  Demons  of 
uncleanness,  blood,  greed,  injustice,  inhumanity,  fraud,  are 
always  abroad,  clamouring,  arguing,  protesting,  threatening, 
demanding  to  be  left  in  possession  of  what  they  have 
possessed  so  fully  and  possessed  so  long.     The  last  thing 


THE    PLEA   OF   EVIL.       -  93 

to  be  expected  from  evil  is  that  it  will  tamely  abdicate. 
Let  us  be  sure  that  it  never  quits  its  hold  until  after 
struggles  which  shake  to  their  foundations  personal,  social, 
and  national  life. 

IL  At  greater  length  we  note  some  characteristics  of  the 
plea  of  evil. 

I.  The  plea  is  specious.  We  cannot  overlook  the 
strange  way  in  which  the  demon  identifies  himself  with  the 
man;  or  in  which  the  lunatics  identify  themselves  with 
the  demons  by  whom  they  are  possessed.  The  ordinary 
consciousness  of  the  possessed  was  mixed  up  with  their 
morbid  consciousness.  "  Art  Thou  come  to  destroy  us  ?  " 
The  demon  has  closely  identified  himself  with  the  human, 
and  it  is  cleverly  represented  that  the  devil  is  the  man's 
friend,  that  Christ  is  the  man's  enemy,  and  whatsoever  is 
done  against  the  demon  is  done  against  the  man.  Sin  has 
wonderfully  interwoven  itself  with  human  interests,  ambi- 
tions, pleasures,  distinctions,  with  government,  jurispru- 
dence, literature,  art,  amusements,  fashion,  worship,  and 
to  strike  against  sin  seems  often  an  attack  on  the  wealth, 
freedom,  enjoyments,  and  aspirations  of  humanity  itself. 
The  demoniac  regarded  Christ  as  an  enemy ;  and  so  to-day, 
when  Christ  comes  to  save  men  from  their  sins,  they 
commonly  regard  His  intervention  as  an  attack  on  their 
interests,  pleasures,  liberty,  progress.  "  Art  Thou  come  to 
destroy  us  ?  "  So  blinded  are  the  minds  of  them  that  believe 
not,  that  they  regard  an  attack  on  the  devil's  kingdom  as 
an  invasion  of  their  own  rights,  a  confiscation  of  their  own 
riches.  Brethren,  wickedness  is  never  friendly  to  anything 
that  concerns  the  rights,  the  safety,  or  the  enrichment  of 
humanity,  and  when  the  devil  becomes  our  advocate  it 
is  the  wolf  pleading  for  the  lamb.     Christ  is  the  great  and 


94  THE   PLEA   OF   EVIL. 

generous  Friend  of  the  individual  and  the  race,  and  it 
is  the  profoundest  falsehood  to  represent  Him  as  the  enemy 
of  our  independence,  privilege,  and  pleasure.  He  never 
snaps  a  string,  or  blights  a  flower,  or  mars  a  picture,  or 
quenches  a  light.  This  is  the  will  of  God,  even  our  per- 
fection, the  fullest  development  and  satisfaction  of  all  our 
faculties,  and  this  will  of  God  concerning  us  is  most  fully 
declared  in  Jesus  Christ.  Let  us  not  identify  our  privileges 
and  delights  with  anything  of  injustice,  or  inhumanity,  or 
falsehood,  or  impurity;  everything  that  is  great,  precious, 
and  glorious  is  given  and  conserved  in  the  fear  and  faith 
of  our  Lord  and  Master.  Christ  came  into  the  world  that 
He  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil,  not  that  He 
might  destroy  in  any  sense  or  measure  the  glory  and  glad- 
ness of  men.  Christ  will  not  destroy  Art,  by  purifying  it 
from  indecency;  or  Recreation,  by  interdicting  inebriety 
and  gambling ;  or  Romance,  by  purging  it  from  the  taint 
of  the  flesh ;  or  Trade,  by  prohibiting  the  traffic  that 
destroys  the  bodies  and  the  souls  of  men;  or  Science, 
by  enjoining  reverence ;  or  Fashion,  by  enforcing  modesty 
and  moderation ;  or  Love,  by  driving  out  lust.  No,  only 
then  shall  these  necessities,  conveniences,  embellishments 
of  human  life  be  fully  realized,  and  the  soul  find  in  the 
midst  of  the  abundance  of  the  world  the  peace  which 
passeth  understanding. 

2.  This  plea  is  impudent.  At  the  first  glance  it  seems 
modest,  almost  pathetic.  *' Let  us  alone."  Can  any  one 
ask  for  less  ?  Nevertheless  the  claim  is  impudent.  When 
men  ask  to  be  let  alone  in  any  place,  in  any  course,  it  is 
presumed  that  they  have  some  right  to  be  where  they  are, 
to  do  what  they  seek  to  do.     Observe  these  two  things — 

First,  this  world  is  not  the  devil's  world.    If  the  assump- 


THE   PLEA   OF   EVIL.  05 

lions  of  pessimism  are  correct,  then  this  world  is  an  alto- 
gether diabolic  world — its  law  cruelty,  its  method  illusion, 
its  consciousness  pain,  its  issue  despair.  Now,  if  this  were 
so,  evil  would  have  a  great  deal  to  say  for  itself.  Nay, 
if  this  were  so,  then  virtue,  truth,  beauty,  love,  purity,  joy, 
must  be  called  upon  to  explain  and  apologize  for  themselves. 
What  are  they  doing  here?  They  are  strange  here  as 
Orpheus  with  his  lyre  in  hell,  as  Proserpine  in  the  dark 
underworld  with  all  her  flowers,  as  Dante  in  the  Inferno. 
These  sweet  and  gracious  things  are  utterly  out  of  place 
in  such  a  Satanic  sphere.  But  this  world  is  not  the  devil's 
world ;  in  its  primitive  and  essential  constitution,  in  its 
ideal  and  design,  in  its  normal  working  and  course,  its  law 
is  love,  its  method  truth,  its  consciousness  joy,  its  outlook 
hope;  it  is  God's  world,  and  goodness,  holiness,  beauty, 
felicity,  have  no  need  to  apologize  for  their  presence  in  it. 
The  desert  must  apologize  for  itself,  not  the  garden  of 
spices;  the  black  weed,  not  the  lily  or  the  rose;  the 
cesspool,  not  the  crystal  river  or  the  sea  of  glass. 

Secondly,  in  the  development  of  this  world  the  devil 
plays  no  essential  part.  That  evil  is  necessary,  that  it 
is  the  bitter  leaven  without  which  there  can  be  no  perfect- 
ing fermentation,  we  cannot  grant.  "Sin  and  Pain  and 
Injustice  are  realities,  and  what  is  worse,  they  are  neces- 
sities." "There  is  in  Nature  an  infinite  amount  of 
abominable  necessity  and  abominable  possibility."  ^  Good 
and  evil  are  thus  represented  as  being  equally  necessary 
in  the  evolution  of  the  individual  and  the  race.  If  this 
were  so,  once  again,  evil  would  have  a  great  deal  to  say 
for  itself.  But  such  a  representation  is  false.  The  Master 
acknowledged  no  sort  of  partnership  with  these  spirits 
'  Vernon  Lee. 


g6  THE   PLEA   OF   EVIL. 

of  the  night.  They  claimed  no  partnership  with  Him. 
"  What  have  we  to  do  with  Thee,  Thou  Jesus  of  Nazareth?  " 
They  had  nothing  to  do  with  Him ;  He  had  nothing  to  do 
with  them.  The  disavowal  of  complicity  was  distinct  and 
emphatic  on  both  sides.  Christ  never  recognized  any 
necessity  for  evil  in  His  own  personal  development.  He 
who  came  to  give  the  true  pattern  of  character,  the  true 
theory  of  growth,  knew  no  sin,  neither  was  guile  found 
in  His  mouth.  Clirist  recognized  no  necessity  for  evil 
in  the  development  of  His  glorious  work.  He  did  not 
tolerate  the  fiends  as  fellow-workers,  but  drove  them  forth 
as  the  absolute  and  unchangeable  enemies  of  humanity. 
Christ  taught  us  that  wickedness  has  no  necessary  part 
in  the  world's  evolution,  only  in  its  confusion,  arrestment, 
and  ruin.  "There  is  in  Nature  an  infinite  amount  of 
abominable  necessity  and  abominable  possibility."  Of 
abominable  possibility,  yes;  of  abominable  necessity,  no. 
Wherever,  then,  may  be  the  place  for  the  devil  and  his 
angels,  it  is  not  here.  Evil  has  no  rights.  Let  us  not 
dream  that  it  has  any  local  habitation  here,  any  rational 
justification,  any  divine  mission,  that  it  belongs  in  some 
sense  to  the  constitution  of  things,  that  it  is  indispensable 
in  certain  stages  of  personal  and  racial  growth,  that.it  is 
a  horrible  necessity  to  be  philosophically  endured.  This 
is  God's  world,  and  the  world  of  creatures  made  in  His 
image  and  for  His  service.  "Of  Him,  and  through  Him, 
and  to  Him,  are  all  things,  to  whom  be  glory  for  ever. 
Amen." 

3.  This  plea  is  crueL  "Let  us  alone."  Modest  as  it 
may  seem,  this  appeal  is  infinitely  terrible.  The  demon  of 
our  text  in  the  first  instance  represents  himself  as  the 
friend  and  advocate  of  the  demoniac,  but  in  the  end  it  is 


THE   PLEA  OF   EVIL.  97 

vividly  seen  that  the  tender  mercies  of  the  wicked  one 
are  cruel.  *' And  when  the  unclean  spirit  had  torn  him, 
he  came  out  of  him."  The  possessed  dwelt  in  the  tombs, 
cut  themselves  with  stones,  cast  themselves  into  the  fire, 
fell  down  as  dead.  Under  all  its  speciousness  sin  is 
awfully  cruel,  and  to  let  it  alone  involves  men  and 
nations  in  the  deepest  guilt  and  misery.  Can  we  let 
evil  alone  in  ourselves — that  which  dims  our  eye,  enervates 
our  resolution,  sears  our  conscience,  destroys  our  affections, 
shatters  our  wing,  blasts  our  hope  ?  Oh,  how  the  power 
of  sin  curses  a  man,  pierces  him  through  with  mighty 
sorrows,  flings  him  a  derelict  on  the  shores  of  eternity  ! 
That  we  do  let  sin  alone  in  our  heart  is  a  sad  fact  and 
a  deep  mystery;  that  we  ought  not  to  rest  with  such  a 
fatal  malady  eating  out  our  strength  and  glory  is  patent 
enough.  Can  we  for  any  consideration  whatever  let  sin 
alone  in  our  children  ?  Sensitive  as  we  are  to  their  welfare, 
we  cannot  leave  them  a  prey  to  the  dark  passions  which 
destroy  body  and  soul  in  hell.  Can  we  let  the  heathen 
nations  alone?  Idolatry,  infanticide,  sutteeism,  hook- 
swinging,  slavery,  cannibalism,  are  sufficiently  terrible 
customs  to  let  alone,  and  yet  they  are  but  a  few  red 
bubbles  on  a  vast  sea  of  sorrow  whose  depths  God  alone 
can  sound.  Are  we  to  let  alone  the  evils  which  afflict 
our  own  community?  Intemperance,  lust,  war,  tyranny, 
and  other  vices  are  filling  our  land  with  woes  too  deep 
for  tears.  It  may  bespeak  the  philosophic  mind  to  think 
serenely,  and  speak  coolly,  about  these  various  evils,  and 
to  give  fine  reasons  for  leaving  them  undisturbed,  but  it 
bespeaks  also  a  bUnd  and  foolish  heart.  Geologists  can 
tranquilly  estimate  the  ages  it  took  for  fierce  fires  to  fuse 
the  rocks,   or  for  ponderous  glaciers  to  grind  them;  but 

H  — 14 


98  THE   PLEA   OF   EVIL. 

when  human  hearts  are  filled  with  anguish  and  human  faces 
stream  with  tears,  it  is  no  longer  permissible  that  we  stand 
by  with  serene  wisdom  and  leave  mighty  ills  to  work  on 
through  untold  ages.  How  awful  indeed  it  would  have 
been  if  Christ  had  acquiesced  in  the  plea  of  the  demons, 
and  left  the  poor  wretch  in  the  grasp  of  hell !  How  awful 
to  think  of  leaving  men  and  nations  in  the  power  of  hell 
to-day !  However  demons  are  tormented  by  going  out 
of  the  world,  we  are  tormented  by  their  presence  in  it, 
and  Christ  has  pity  on  us,  not  on  them.  Let  us  have  pity 
on  ourselves,  and  on  one  another. 

III.  We  contemplate  Chrisfs  rejedioiir  of  the  plea  of  evil. 
"  There  was  a  man  with  an  unclean  spirit."  How  clearly 
Christ  saw,  and  how  plainly  He  characterized,  the  spirit 
with  which  He  had  to  deal !  A  filthy  fiend !  he  was  just 
this  in  Christ's  eye,  and  on  Christ's  tongue.  Sin  is  trans- 
figured in  the  world  —  it  comes  as  Juno's  bird  with 
burnished  train,  as  Venus'  silver  dove,  as  the  butterfly- 
winged  glory  of  Psyche  j  sin  is  transfigured  in  the  temple — 
it  cloaks  itself  with  the  priest's  white,  steals  the  chorister's 
music,  affects  the  saint's  nimbus ;  but  on  the  pages  of 
revelation  it  appears  in  its  stark  loathsomeness — there  the 
doves,  the  peacocks,  the  butteiflies,  the  angels  of  light,  are 
frogs,  locusts,  dragons,  serpents,  scorpions,  beasts.  Christ 
always  speaks  of  evil  with  severe  revealing  simplicity.  "  Ye 
are  of  your  father  the  devil,  and  the  lusts  of  your  father 
ye  will  do.  He  was  a  murderer  from  the  beginning,  and 
abode  not  in  the  truth,  because  there  is  no  truth  in  him. 
When  he  speaketh  a  lie,  he  speaketh  of  his  own  :  for  he  is 
a  liar,  and  the  father  of  it."  The  Master  speaks  of  the 
demon  with  the  same  plainness.  A  filthy  spirit !  Here  is 
the  voice  of  truth.     Sometimes  the  devil  is  spoken  of  by  a 


THE  PLEA  OF   EVIL.  99 

Greek  name,  sometimes  by  a  Hebrew  one,  but  here  is  the 
Saxon  name  so  significant  to  the  million.     Before  Christ's 
eye  there  is  no  illusion  in  evil,  and  there  is  none  in  it  when 
He  gives  it  a  name.     *'  Hell  and  destruction  are  before  the 
Lord."   In  a  world  where  the  wit  of  man  has  been  exercised 
for  ages  in  dissembling  the  grossness  of  evil,  how  vast  is 
our  debt  to  the  New  Testament  for  showing  evil  to  us  as 
it  is,  base,  ugly,  dirty,  abominable,  deadly  !     "  And  Jesus 
rebuked  him,  saying,  Hold  thy  peace."     Here  is  the  voice 
of  contempt.     And   such  is  always  the  tone  of  Christ  in 
dealing  with  the  spirits  of  evil.     "  Get  thee  hence,  Satan." 
"Get  thee  behind  Me,  Satan."     "And  he  suffered  them  not 
to  speak."    "  Hold  thy  peace."    So  Christ  speaks  to  princi- 
palities and  powers  as  to  a  dog.  ■  Where  a  spark  of  reality, 
sincerity,  promise,  existed,  Christ  was  infinitely  patient  and 
sympathetic ;    but  there  was  no  place  for  argument  here, 
because  in  pure  wickedness  there  is  no  truth,  no  reason, 
and  no  hope.]  Christ  could  enter  into  no  parley ;  He  could 
not  accept  anything  from  such  a  source  ;  His  work  must 
have  no  seeming  complicity  with  such  agents  and  methods. 
"  Come   out   of  him."     Here   is   the   voice   of  authority. 
"  And  when   the  unclean  spirit  had  torn   him,  and  cried 
with  a  loud  voice,  he  came  out  of  him.     And  they  were  all 
amazed,  insomuch  that  they  questioned  among  themselves, 
saying.  What  thing  is  this  ?  for  with  authority  commandeth 
He   even   the   unclean   spirits,  and   they  do   obey  Him." 
"  Now  is  the  judgment  of  this  world  :  now  shall  the  prince 
of  this  world  be  cast  out."     "  Having  spoiled  principalities 
and  powers.  He  made  a  show  of  them  openly,  triumphing 
over  them  in  it." 

I.  We  learn  t/iai  evil  is  to  he  cast  out  of  humanity.     Of 
late  years  quite  a  new  view  has  been  taken  of  the  various 


lOO  THE   PLEA   OF   EVIL. 

natural   ills   by   which   the   race   is    plagued.      Take,   for 
example,  the  plagues  fatal  to  vegetation.    Until  recently  the 
husbandman  regarded  insect  depredators  as  inevitable  and 
irresistible.     It  seemed  to   him  a  mere  matter  of  course 
that  a  large  proportion  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth  should  be 
eaten  up  by  grubs  of  all  sorts,  and  seeds,  plants,  trees,  were 
resigned  to  flies  and  beetles  with  the  sense  of  abject  help- 
lessness.    But  science  has  changed  all  this.     One  of  the 
most  reassuring  things  of  the  day  is  the  skill,  the  courage, 
the  hope,  with  which  agriculturists  have  entered  into  the 
struggle  with  their  hereditary  foes.    "  A  Manual  of  Injurious 
Insects  "  is  published  every  year,  coloured  drawings  of  the 
insects  are  given,  their   habits  are  described,   their  weak 
places  pointed  out,  and  in  the  spirit  of  victory  the  husband- 
man wages  war  upon  the  whole  army  of  caterpillars,  wire- 
worms,  beetles,   maggots,  earwigs,   centipedes.      And   the 
same  is  true  of  the  modern  attitude  toward  the  pestilences 
which  have  through  generations  filled  our  cities  with  mourn- 
ing, lamentation,  and  woe.     Our  forefathers  sat  in  despair 
before    yellow    fevers,    black    deaths,    sweating-sicknesses, 
cholera,  and  similar  pestilences,  but  science  is  now  gradually 
feeling  its  way  to  the  minute  and  obscure  causes  of  epidemic 
diseases,  and  year  by  year  we  draw  closer  to  the  time  when 
it  may  probably  put  into  our  hands  the  means  not  only  of 
arresting  these  epidemics,  but  of  stamping  them  out  alto- 
gether.     The   physician   has    become    familiar   with    the 
bacteria,  and  with  ceaseless  patience  he  tracks  down  the 
mischief  to  its  origin  and  birth.     With  singular  exultation 
the   scientist   anticipates  the  time  when  the  whole  range 
of  zymotic  disease  will  be  conquered.     Will  any  call  this 
foolish  dreaming,  and  argue  that  because  these  sad  scourges 
have  always  been  they  always  will  be  ?     Such  a  pessimist  is 


THE   PLEA  OF   EVIL.  1 01 

unworthy  of  the  privilege  of  living  in  this  glorious  age.  It 
is  a  delightful  and  legitimate  hope  that  the  race  may  yet 
master  all  its  physical  foes. 

But  if  these  physical  evils  are  to  be  subdued,  is  not 
that  moral  evil,  which  is  the  root  of  all  other  evils,  to  be 
subdued  also  ?  Christ  came  to  assure  us  of  this,  and  the 
absolute  casting  out  of  the  demon  is  the  sign  of  the  glorious 
truth.  Evil  may  cry  out  with  a  loud  voice;  it  may  rage 
and  threaten  and  tear ;  but  it  must  go  when  we  cast 
ourselves  at  the  Redeemer's  feet.  Its  expulsion  from  our 
own  heart  and  life  is  assured  there.  And  in  the  same 
almighty  grace  it  shall  be  expelled  from  society.  Jefferson 
Davis,  flushed  with  the  insolence  of  slavery,  wrote  to  the 

North,  "Let  us  alone,  or -"     But  God  filled   up  that 

line  for  them.     Slavery  perished,  and  their  pride  with  it. 

"  Let  us  alone,  or "  is  being  continually  shrieked  on 

behalf  of  some  foul  thing  or  other ;  but  one  after  another 
the  demons  are  expelled.  Let  us  not  be  afraid  of  evil  when 
it  cries  with  a  loud  voice,  for  crying  with  a  loud  voice  it 
still  comes  out.  The  devil  has  often  won  with  his  loud 
voice ;  it  is  one  of  his  favourite  devices  to  create  a  panic ; 
his  threatenings  are  simply  terrible ;  but  impotence  is  under 
all  the  show,  and,  bravely  confronted  in  the  name  of  Christ, 
the  vapourer  comes  out.  He  who  does  not  lift  up  His  voice 
in  the  street  destroy?  the  loud-voiced  one  by  the  breath  of 
His  mouth  and  the  brightness  of  His  coming.  The  whisper 
of  Christ  prevails  against  all  the  wrath,  and  rage,  and  roar . 
of  hell. 

2.  We  learn  f/ial  evil  is  to  be  wholly  east  out.  The 
simple,  radical,  decisive  manner  in  which  Christ  rejects  the 
plea  of  evil  is  full  of  instruction.  Christ  did  not  restrain 
the  infernal  power,  the  evil  spirits  were  to  go  out ;  judg- 


102  THE   PLEA   OF   EVIL. 

ment  was  not  deferred,  they  were  to  go  out  at  once ;  the 
expulsion  was  total,  they  were  all  to  go — not  one  left  of  all 
the  legion,  not  a  little  one.  There  is  not  the  most  distant 
suspicion  of  compromise  in  Christ's  treatment  of  evil.  We 
must  remember  this  in  dealing  with  evil  now.  The  tempta- 
tion to  compromise  is  always  great ;  it  wears  a  philosophic 
air ;  it  seems  so  eminently  reasonable  and  statesmanlike ; 
it  has  the  deliberation  of  science ;  it  speaks  in  the  tones  of 
prudence,  moderation,  practicabiUty.  Yet  is  the  short  and 
sharp  method  of  dealing  with  evil  the  method  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Thus  we  must  deal  with  evil  in  our  own  life.  We 
are  often  strangely  tender  in  our  treatment  of  personal  evil. 
We  cannot  bring  ourselves  to  believe  that  it  can  be  cleansed, 
cleansed  thoroughly,  cleansed  now.  We  cannot  believe 
that  the  whole  seven  are  to  go  out,  and  that  we  are  to  be 
whole  the  selfsame  hour.  Oh,  how  imperfect  is  our  con- 
ception of  Christ's  saving  power  !  Let  us  rise  to  a  worthy 
view.  Let  us  reject  the  specious  pleas  of  evil.  Let  us 
trust  wholly,  and  now,  in  Him  who  came  to  destroy  the 
works  of  the  devil.  In  the  Church  also  we  must  beware  of 
the  spirit  of  compromise.  The  Church  has  nothing  to  gain 
by  making  concessions  to  any  real  evil.  Christ  rejected 
the  patronage  of  evil  spirits ;  He  would  not  permit  them  to 
testify  to  Him,  although  it  would  have  seemed  politic  that 
He  should  have  permitted  such  testimony.  The  Church 
has  nothing  to  gain  by  parading  the  testimonies  of  infidelity 
to  certain  aspects  of  Christianity ;  nothing  to  gain  by  the 
cankered  gold  of  lust  and  selfishness  ;  nothing  to  gain  by 
supporting  the  Bible  with  the  barrel ;  nothing  to  gain  by  the 
patronage  of  worldly  politicians.  The  Israelites  spoiled 
the  Egyptians,  and  those  very  jewels  became  a  snare  to  the 
borroweis;    spoiling   the  Egyptians   is   generally  doubtful 


THE   PLEA   OF   EVIL.  IO3 

cleverness.  But  such  compromises  are  ever  a  gain  to 
wickedness.  War  gains  when  the  priest  blesses  its  banners ; 
slavery  gains  when  the  slave-owner  is  appointed  a  deacon ; 
injustice  and  impurity  gain  when  orthodox  circles  accept 
their  tithes  and  patronage.  It  is  an  immense  gain  to  the 
system  of  evil  if  at  any  point  it  can  establish  even  a  cobweb 
connection  with  the  Christian  Church.  Here  we  must 
watch  with  the  most  scrupulous  care.  It  is  an  awful  thing 
for  evil. to  insinuate  itself  into  the  Church,  and  to  appeal 
to  men  with  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  anti- 
Christ. 

And  in  carrying  righteousness  into  the  life  and  laws 
and  institutions  of  society,  we  must  beware  of  the  spirit 
of  compromise.  Much  is  said  about  "necessary  evils," 
and  it  is  insisted  that  in  dealing  with  these  evils  we  must 
proceed  trimmingly.  Let  me  give  an  illustration  of  this. 
Mr.  W.  S.  Lilly,  who  protests  against  "  the  apotheosis  of 
prostitution,"  which  he  regards  as  a  distinctive  note  of  our 
epoch,  goes  on  to  say,  strangely  enough,  *'  And  here  let 
me  guard  myself  against  misconception.  I  know  well  that 
the  poor  in  virtue,  as  the  poor  in  worldly  wealth,  we  have 
always  with  us.  I  know  that  in  our  present  highly  complex 
and  artificial  civilization,  the  rude  proceedings,  whereby 
the  men  of  simpler  ages  sought  to  enforce  chastity,  would 
be  out  of  date.  I  think  it  probable  that  in  any  age  they 
did  more  harm  than  good.  True,  at  all  events  in  the 
existing  condition  of  society,  is  St.  Augustine's  warning, 
'  Aufer  meretrices  de  rebus  humanis,  turbaveris  omnia  libi- 
dinibus.'  And,  this  being  so,  I  believe  the  true  function 
of  the  State  is  to  control  and  regulate  what  it  must  regard 
as  a  necessary  evil,  and  to  minimize,  as  far  as  may  be,  the 
resultant  mischiefs,  moral  and  physical.     These  miserable 


104  THE   PLEA  OF   EVIL. 

women  are  the  guardians  of  our  domestic  purity."  ^  To 
find  a  powerful  and  eloquent  moralist  like  Mr.  Lilly  falling 
into  such  a  sophism  is  simply  lamentable.  There  could 
hardly  be  more  false  or  ruinous  teaching  than  this ;  such 
casuistry  is  utterly  contrary  to  the  spirit  and  method  of 
the  New  Testament.  We  are  not  called  upon  gingerly 
to  minimize  evils  after  this  fashion.  The  Church  must 
tell  the  State  that  there  are  no  necessary  evils ;  it  must 
demand  the  extirpation  of  every  evil.  How  strange  to 
stigmatize  the  courtesan  as  an  "  unclean  creature,"  and  then 
to  tell  us  that  she  and  her  sisters  "  are  the  guardians  of  our 
domestic  purity " !  It  would  be  equally  true,  or  equally 
false,  to  say  that  forgers  are  the  guardians  of  our  com- 
mercial honour,  or  that  drunkards  are  the  guardians  of  the 
public  health,  or  that  slanderers  are  the  guardians  of  our 
social  integrity.  Whatever  society  may  claim  from  us,  it 
can  never  claim  that  any  of  its  members  sin  to  serve  it. 
In  questions  of  mere  expediency,  compromise  may  be  what 
Macaulay  termed  it,  ''the  essence  of  politics;"  but  when 
righteousness  is  in  question,  compromise  is  "the  devil's 
gospel."  Christ  utterly  scouted  that  gospel  in  the  text,  so 
must  we.  We  affect  moderation,  and  do  not  wish  to  appear 
**  extreme  ; "  but  how  often  have  we  seen  that  the  via  media 
is  the  privileged  walk  of  the  devil !  Nothing  is  rational  in 
dealing  with  evil  but  the  severity  that  breaks  it  off  suddenly, 
that  condemns  it  utterly,  that  pursues  it  to  the  death. 

3.  We  learn  that  evil  is  cast  out  in  Christ.  Christ  set 
Himself  against  the  demoniac  power,  and  proved  Himself 
its  master.  It  is  so  to-day.  The  only  power  that  grapples 
with  and  subdues  the  sensualities,  the  ferocities,  the  irra- 
tionalities of  the  race  at  this  present  hour  is  the  power  of 

»   "Right  and  Wrong." 


THE   TLEA  OF   EVIL.  105 

the  Lord  Jesus.  The  devils  are  cast  out  in  His  name,  and 
in  none  other.  We  have  fine  philosophies,  and  poetic 
systems  innumerable,  but  it  is  only  in  Christ  that  the  raging 
evil  is  rebuked  and  abolished.  There  are  spirits  of  melan- 
choly that  the  physician  can  cast  out;  imps  of  folly  that 
the  satirist  can  laugh  hence ;  there  are  ugly  shapes  of 
mischief  that  the  magistrate  can  control;  but  there  is  a 
malign  and  potent  *'sort"  which  yield  only  to  Christ's 
sovereign  grace.  At  this  very  hour,  in  a  thousand  places, 
Christ  is  driving  out  the  infernal  power,  and  bringing  in 
the  reign  of  reason,  righteousness,  and  peace.  The  Chris- 
tian evangelist  in  low  neighbourhoods  is  dealing  successfully 
with  passion  in  its  fiercest  and  most  monstrous  forms.  The 
Christian  missionary  in  dark  lands  full  of  cruelty  is  casting 
out  fi-ightful  things.  And  tens  of  thousands  of  Christian 
people,  in  their  crucial  conflicts  with  the  base  elements 
of  life,  know  that  Christ's  Spirit  alone  gave  them  the  victory 
over  the  beast  and  his  image.  "  And  I  heard  a  loud  voice 
saying  in  heaven.  Now  is  come  salvation,  and  strength, 
and  the  kingdom  of  our  God,  and  the  power  of  His  Christ ; 
for  the  accuser  of  our  brethren  is  cast  down,  which  accused 
them  before  our  God  day  and  night."  OHowever  men  may 
explain  it,  the  only  force  in  the  woridTthat  is  really  wrestling 
with  and  casting  out  the  fierce,  deep,  chronic  wickedness 
of  the  human  heart  is  the  truth  and  love  that  are  in  Christ 
Jesus. 

Some  sceptic  recently  expressed  anxiety  lest  "  the  suc- 
cessive bankruptcies  of  liberalism  "  should  lead  society  back 
once  more  to  supernaturalism.  Such  a  reaction  is  by  no 
means  unlikely ;  it  is,  indeed,  natural  and  inevitable.  What 
do  the  successive  bankruptcies  of  liberalism  mean  ?  Simply 
this,  that  successive  systems  of  scepticism  have  failed  to 


I06  THE   PLEA   OF    EVIL. 

fulfil  their  promise ;  failed  to  satisfy  our  intellect,  to  assuage 
our  griefs,  to  tame  our  passions,  to  cleanse  society  and  to 
keep  it  pure.  After  successive  bankruptcies  of  pretentious 
liberalism,  in  which  the  paltriest  dividends  have  been 
realized  to  lessen  our  sins  and  sorrows,  we  must  go  back 
to  Him  who  alone  has  discovered  any  real  mastery  of  our 
heart.  We  have  no  choice  but  to  go  to  Him  who  alone 
deals  availingly  with  the  stupidity,  the  madness,  the  devilish- 
ness,  which  lie  at  the  root  of  the  world's  misery  and  despair. 
Men  who  can  only  treat  the  toothache  are  of  little  con- 
sequence when  the  plague  is  raging;  and  the  sceptical 
philosophers  who  propound  their  Httle  systems  touching 
manners  and  politics  are  of  little  count  to  us  who  are 
groaning  in  the  power  of  blind,  dark  passions  which  we 
can  neither  gainsay  nor  resist.  Nothing  will  satisfy  the  race, 
nothing  meets  its  case,  nothing  captivates  and  persuades 
it,  except  the  demon-expelling  virtue.  ''And  they  were 
all  amazed,  insomuch  that  they  questioned  among  them- 
selves, saying.  What  thing  is  this?  what  new  doctrine  is 
this  ?  for  with  authority  commandeth  He  even  the  unclean 
spirits,  and  they  do  obey  Him.  And  immediately  His 
fame  spread  abroad  throughout  all  the  region  round  about 
Galilee."  In  dealing  with  the  profound  evils  which  afflict 
us,  let  us  fix  our  eye  on  Christ.  The  worst  demoniac  felt 
at  once  the  sweet  and  majestic  presence  of  Christ,  and  to- 
day, whenever  Christ  stands  in  the  midst,  the  worst  natures 
are  sensible  of  His  awful  beauty  and  gracious  power. 
TJlirist  is  our  Hope;  the  Hope  of  society;  the  Hope  of 
the  race.  By  tlie  word  of  His  truth,  by  the  charm  of  His 
beauty,  by  the  magic  of  His  love,  by  the  virtue  of  His  i 
cross,  by  the  power  of  His  resurrection,  by  the  grace  of  j 
His  Holy  Spirit,  shall  the  prince  of  this  world  be  cast  out.    J 


f\ 


THE  PLEA  OF   EVIL.  10/ 

It  is,  then,  the  duty  of  Christ's  Church  unceasingly  to 
agitate  against  evil.  If  it  could  have  let  evil  alone  it  would 
have  had  fewer  martyrs,  but  it  cannot.  It  is  most  intru- 
sive, intolerant,  uncompromising.  It  will  protest,  accuse, 
threaten,  condemn.  Christianity  is  the  most  irritating  and 
harassing  of  all  religions.  When  it  goes  to  Rome  it  will 
not  do  as  Rome  does.  It  keeps  on  rebuking  kings,  priests, 
and  peoples.  It  will  give  the  world  no  peace  until  it  gives 
it  the  peace  of  God  which  passeth  understanding. 


THE    EVOLUTION   OF   EVIL. 


/ 


+ 

THE    EVOLUTION    OF    EVIL. 

"  But  evil  men  and  impostors  shall  wax  worse  and  worse,  deceiving 
and  being  deceived." — 2  Tim.  iii.  13. 

Evolution  as  applied  to  good  is  a  very  comfortable 
doctrine  \  it  is  delightful  to  think  of  things  and  creatures 
becoming  ever  more  complete,  effective,  beautiful ;  the 
evolution  may  be  slow,  but  it  is  a  sincere  satisfaction  to 
feel  that  it  proceeds  at  all.  The  belief  that  evolution  of 
this,  nature  is  the  law  of  the  universe  at  large  can  only 
inspire  consolation  and  hope.  But  the  text  reminds  us  of 
the  existence  of  another  kind  of  evolution ;  it  tells  of  men 
going  from  bad  to  worse,  of  evil  working  itself  out  in  forms 
ever  more  pronounced,  with  consequences  ever  more  tragic. 
And  modern  science  entirely  sanctions  this  aspect  of  the 
question.  Whilst  our  scientists  are  inclined  to  believe  that 
on  the  whole  the  law  of  evolution  is  carrying  the  world 
onward  to  a  higher  perfection,  they  fully  acknowledge  the 
terrible  action  of  degeneration,  the  large  part  that  it  plays 
in  nature,  the  vast  area  over  which  it  acts,  and  its  awful 
consequences.  Let  us  now  consider,  first,  the  law  of 
evolution  in  regard  to  several  aspects  of  evil ;  and,  secondly, 
the  principle  on  which  this  evolution  depends. 

I.   The  evolution  of  ev'iL 

I.  The   evolution   of   evil   in   relation   to  faith.     The 


112  THE  EVOLUTION   OF   EVIL. 

development  of  error  is  the  matter  immediately  before  the 
Apostle  in  this  place  :  he  is  speaking  of  those  who  go  from 
one   heresy  to   another.     Men   begin   by   questioning   the 
great  articles  of  their  creed ;  they  commence  the  process 
in  no  specially  offensive  temper,  they  seem  only  to  obey 
the  necessity  and  follow  the  methods  of  an  independent 
mind.     Gradually,  like  as  when  a  moth  fretteth  a  garment, 
the  criticism  becomes   more  antagonistic  and  destructive, 
until  ere  long  the  critic  finds  himself  renouncing  all  the 
great  inspiring  articles   of  his  faith :    what   began   in   an 
apparently  laudable  inquiry  into  the  truth  of  religion  ends 
in  universal  scepticism.     We  have  an  illustration  of  this 
evolution  of  error  in  the  primitive  Christian  Church.     In  a 
very  few  years  a  variety  of  serious  heresies  infected  the 
Church  of  God.     Fever  microbes  are  sometimes  found  in 
drops  of  dew ;   and  no  sooner  had  the  pure  doctrine  of 
Christ  and  of  His  Apostles  distilled  like  the  morning  dew, 
than  it  was  polluted  and  poisoned  with  infusions  of  false- 
hood and  superstition.     The  Church  had  only  just  received 
its  deposit  of  truth,  the  Apostles  were  yet  alive,  and  already 
the   fine   gold  was   dimmed,  the  wine   mixed  with  water. 
And  the  Apostles  foresaw  that  this  process  of  degeneration 
would  go  on  indefinitely.     The  sun  of  the  Church  went 
down  whilst  it  was  yet  day,  and  ages  of  deep  and  deepening 
darkness  followed — error,  superstition,  idolatry,  licence,  in 
their  worst  forms,  became  the  characteristics  of  ecclesiastical 
life   and   history.     In   modern    times   we   have   a   striking 
illustration  of  this   degeneration  of  faith   in  the   German 
nation.     Germany  was  the  birthplace  of  the  Reformation — 
that  is,  the  great  German  people  emancipated  itself  from 
the  superstitions  which  had  so  long  darkened  and  destroyed 
the  Church  of  Christ ;  they  attained  to  a  noble  faith  and  a 


THE   EVOLUTION   OF   EVIL.  II3 

living  worship.  But  in  the  course  of  a  century  or  so  of 
decline  they  have  been  led  by  almost  imperceptible  steps 
into  the  depths  of  scepticism.  For  a  long  time,  as  Edgar 
Quinet  points  out,  poetry  held  the  place  of  religion,  then 
mysticism;  then  philosophy  became  a  religion,  then  patriotism 
became  the  national  creed,  then  art  became  the  substitute 
for  worship,  until  in  the  end  the  old  scriptural  faith  was  no 
longer  the  faith  of  the  nation.  Germany  made  the  great 
descent  from  Luther  to  Goethe,  from  Goethe  to  Heine,  in 
its  last  stage  jeering  at  all  it  once  believed  and  loved ;  it 
has  been  able,  without  a  single  shock,  to  lull  its  past  into 
forgetfulness,  and  to  bury  it  without  a  sigh.^ 

And  as  we  see  this  degeneration  in  a  Church,  and  in 
a  nation,  we  may  see  it  also  in  the  individual.  Renan 
furnishes  a  striking  illustration  of  such  declension  in  the 
personal  life.  The  scholar  whose  scepticism  found  its  first 
general  expression  in  his  "  Life  of  Christ,"  ends  by  writing 
a  naturalistic  drama,  entitled  "  L'Abbesse  de  Jouarre," 
which  has  been  condemned  by  his  not  over-squeamish 
countrymen  as  a  glorification  of  sensual  passion,  a  trampling 
underfoot  of  all  the  sovereign  laws  of  virtue.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  the  whole  civilized  world  was  astonished 
and  shocked  at  such  dramatic  sensuality  from  such  a 
source.  "  He  pitched  his  tent  toward  Sodom."  So  have 
we  all  seen  men  renounce  one  great  truth  after  another 
until  nothing  has  been  left  them  but  a  death's-head,  and 
they  have  bitterly  mocked  at  life,  love,  and  virtue.  It  is 
rather  popular  just  now  to  regard  the  loss  of  religious  faith 
as  a  light  thing,  but  the  truly  great  men  who  speak  to  us 
from  the  sacred  pages  did  not  reckon  thus.  And  surely  it 
is  no  light  thing ;  it  is  a  disaster.  The  ship  that  drifts  in 
1   "  Early  Life  and  Writings." 

I— 14 


114  I^HE   EVOLUTION    OF   EVIL. 

the  dark  night  before  the  howling  storm,  having  lost  chart, 
compass,  anchor,  is  in  a  bad  way ;  and  so  is  he  who  has 
lost  all  faith  in  higher  things,  who  is  driven  helplessly  by 
wind  and  wave,  knowing  no  pathway  and  aiming  at  no 
haven.  And  at  this  moment  there  are  thousands  thus 
derelict.  They  set  forth  on  the  voyage  of  life  with  a 
religious  faith,  that  is,  with  high  ideals,  principles,  and 
inspirations ;  but  having  made  shipwreck  of  the  faith  and 
of  a  good  conscience,  all  is  lost. 

Are  we,  then,  to  be  afraid  of  testing  our  belief,  afraid 
of  a  life  of  intelligence,  knowledge,  reflection  ?  Lest  our 
investigations  should  some  day  lead  us  to  absolute  atheism, 
are  we  to  accept  our  Bible  from  our  parents,  our  creed  from 
the  Church,  asking  no  more  questions  ?  We  ought  to  turn 
with  scorn  from  any  such  ignoble  intellectual  surrender. 
And  nothing  is  further  from  the  thought  of  the  Apostle 
than  such  a  surrender  of  the  independence  of  the  soul. 
The  point  of  his  admonition  is,  we  must  take  care  in  what 
spirit  we  begin  and  prosecute  our  criticism.  "  Deceiving 
and  being  deceived."  The  process  of  degeneration  begins 
in  a  certain  insincerity,  and  in  insincerity  is  it  developed. 
Evil  does  not  arise  out  of  good,  but  out  of  evil.  Out  of 
pure  sincere  reasoning  comes  no  blinding  destroying  error  ; 
there  is  no  evolution  of  evil  where  there  is  no  germ  of  evil. 
We  may  readily  see  in  the  chapters  of  this  Epistle  where 
the  initial  cell  of  atheism  may  come  in,  where  the  first 
dangerous  germ  of  unbelief  may  find  insinuation.  It  may 
be  found  in  a  lack  of  seriousness.  *'Ever  learning,  but 
never  able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth."  They 
were  not  moved  to  study  by  the  love  of  truth,  but  by  a 
desire  for  entertainment,  by  a  longing  for  mere  intellectual 
pastime.     It   may   be   found   in   ^   lack   of    humility.     A 


TPIE  EVOLUTION   OF  EVIL.  115 

temper  of  vanity,  pride,  self-confidence,  often  leads  men 
into  error.  It  may  be  found  in  a  lack  of  submission.  The 
Apostle  makes  it  very  clear  that  it  was  their  unwillingness 
to  obey  the  truth  that  made  these  heretics  unable  to  receive 
it.  It  may  lie  in  a  cowardice  which  prevents  men  acknow- 
ledging the  truth  and  suffering  for  it.  "  For  the  which 
cause  I  also  suffer  these  things  :  nevertheless  I  am  not 
ashamed :  for  I  know  whom  I  have  believed."  These 
heretics  lacked  the  heroism  to  suffer  for  the  truth's  sake. 
From  the  whole  Epistle  we  learn  that  the  unbelievers  could 
not  attain  to  the  truth  because  the  necessary  conditions  did 
not  exist  in  their  inner  life,  and  so  the  germs  of  error  in 
their  hearts  were  constantly  springing  up  in  monstrous 
shapes.  The  Apostle  calls  these  heretics,  sorcerers,  im- 
postors, magicians — they  were  mere  theorists,  pretenders, 
sophists,  chatterers ;  there  was  nothing  about  them  sober 
and  true.  There  was  nothing  practical,  experimental,  fruit- 
ful, in  their  treatment  of  sacred  things ;  all  was  vain,  unreal, 
and  deceptive  as  legerdemain.  Here,  then,  it  is  that  we 
have  to  watch.  Whilst  we  pray  for  knowledge,  and  seek  it 
with  a  true  heart,  we  have  nothing  to  fear ;  but  the  mustard 
seed  of  levity,  insincerity,  pride,  cowardice,  self-will,  may 
germinate  into  fatal  unbeliefs.  We  begin  by  "  muttering 
perverseness ; "  we  end  by  denying  the  God  who  made  us, 
the  Lord  who  bought  us,  the  heaven  that  waits  us.  Un- 
godly wisdom  is  characterized  by  three  adjectives  which 
form  a  climax — earthly,  sensual,  devilish.  It  was  really 
devilisli  in  its  beginning,  but  it  was  only  as  it  developed 
itself  that  its  true  character  was  revealed. 

2.  The  evolution  of  evil  in  relation  to  character.  Evil 
possesses  wonderful  capabilities  of  expansion,  multiplica- 
tion, transformation,  transmigration,  exaggeration.     Notice 


Il6  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   EVIL. 

specially  three  points  in  its  susceptibility  to  development 
and  increase. 

( I )  One  evil  contains  within  itself  the  possibilities  of  all  evil. 
Medical  writers  have  now  much  to  tell  touching  the  con- 
vertibility of  disease.  They  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  constitutional  defect  appearing  in  a  family  in  one 
generation  is  not  necessarily  transmitted  in  that  exact  form 
to  succeeding  generations.  What  appears  at  one  time  as 
insanity  will  reveal  itself  at  another  as  epilepsy  or  paralysis ; 
convulsions  will  reassert  themselves  as  hysteria  or  insanity  ; 
insanity  is  converted  into  a  tendency  to  suicide  ;  the  suicidal 
tendency  will  become  a  mania  for  drinking ;  what  is  neu- 
ralgia in  the  father  may  be  melancholia  in  the  son  ;  what  is 
deformity  in  one  generation  may  be  apoplexy  in  the  next. 
In  an  afflicted  family  the  constitutional  defect  has  curious 
ramifications,  and  undergoes  strange  metamorphoses.  It  is 
much  the  same  with  evil.  Men  will  indulge  in  one  vice, 
whilst  they  express  the  utmost  abhorrence  of  other  vices  of 
which  they  could  never  think  themselves  susceptible.  But 
this  is  a  mistake.  All  evils  are  one  in  root  and  essence  ; 
and  surrendering  ourselves  to  one  form  of  iniquity,  we 
surrender  ourselves  to  all;  changing  circumstances  and 
temptations  will  involve  the  law-breaker  in  other  sins,  and 
in  aggravated  guilt.  Lying  passes  into  thieving,  thieving 
into  drunkenness,  drunkenness  into  lust,  lust  into  hate, 
hate  into  murder — the  vices  are  identical  in  principle  ; 
they  are  interchangeable  and  convertible,  and  he  who  is 
guilty  in  one  point  may  find  himself  not  only  potentially 
but  actually  guilty  of  all.  Granted  a  constitutional  bodily 
defect,  and  it  means  deformity,  insanity,  dipsomania, 
epilepsy,  paralysis,  apoplexy,  all  these  in  turn  as  the 
hereditary  law  and  subtle  circumstances  may  determine ; 


THE  EVOLUTION   OF   EVIL.  II7 

SO,  granted  a  moral  defect,  a  lack  of  faith,  integrity,  love, 
purity,  we  are  liable  to  the  whole  catalogue  of  sins  alike  of 
the  flesh  and  of  the  mind.  In  the  Old  Testament  we  find 
transgressors  *'  adding  sin  to  sin  ;  "  and  St.  Paul  recognizes 
the  same  interrelation  and  sequence  of  the  vices  when  he 
writes  to  the  Romans,  '•  as  ye  have  yielded  your  members 
servants  to  uncleanness,  and  to  iniquity  unto  iniquity."  One 
vice  is  related  to  another,  changes  into  another,  and  he 
who  begins  with  the  transgression  of  one  commandment 
finds  it  easy,  sometimes  finds  it  inevitable,  to  fall  into 
manifold  condemnation. 

(2)  The  mildest  form  of  evil  cojitains  within  itself  the 
possibility  of  the  most  extreme  evil.  When  the  father  of 
William  the  Conqueror  v/as  departing  for  the  Holy  Land, 
he  called  together  the  peers  of  Normandy,  and  required 
them  to  swear  allegiance  to  his  young  son,  who  was  a  mere 
infant ;  when  the  barons  smiled  at  the  feeble  babe,  the  king 
promptly  replied,  "  He  is  little,  but  he  will  grow."  He  did 
grow,  and  that  baby-hand  ere  long  ruled  the  nations  as  with 
a  rod  of  iron.  The  same  may  be  said  of  evil  in  its  slenderest 
beginning,  in  its  miost  innocuous  form  :  "  It  is  little,  but 
it  will  grow."  But  who  may  say  into  what  it  will  grow  ? 
"  Then  the  lust,  when  it  hath  conceived,  beareth  sin ;  and 
the  sin,  when  it  is  full  grown,  bringeth  forth  death."  In  its 
beginning  it  is  a  fancy,  a  flash  of  thought,  a  look,  a  word, 
a  touch,  a  gesture,  a  tone,  an  accent,  an  embryo  that  no 
microscope  could  detect ;  but  at  last  it  is  a  Cain,  a  Judas,  a 
Nero.  The  acorn-cup  yields  the  upas  tree  ;  out  of  a  spark 
flashes  hell.  The  terrible  crimes  and  miseries  of  the  East 
End  of  London  have  recently  been  brought  into  great 
prominence,  and  one  of  the  most  distressing  features  of  this 
subject  is  that  considerable  numbers  of  these  appallingly 


Il8  THE  EVOLUTION   OF  EVIL. 

miserable  characters  were  once  respectable  and  happy. 
They  were  the  children  of  honourable  parents,  they  were 
trained  in  schools  and  sanctuaries,  they  were  members  of 
rich  and  influential  circles;  then  they  chose  the  down- 
grade; they  were  first  guilty  of  unbecomingness,  then  of 
acts  of  graver  misconduct,  at  length  their  friends  lost  sight 
of  them,  they  lost  sight  of  their  friends ;  then  ever  lower 
lodging-houses,  lower  ginshops,  lower  pawnshops,  until  at 
last  those  who  had  been  tenderly  nursed,  educated  in  uni- 
versities, clothed  in  scarlet,  were  submerged  in  filth,  crime, 
misery,  simply  unutterable.  All  this  dire  catastrophe  once 
seemed  impossible  to  them,  as  now  it  seems  impossible 
to  us;  but  forget  not  that  the  doubtful  ever  passes  into 
the  bad,  the  bad  into  the  worse,  the  worse  into  the  un- 
speakable. 

(3)  The  development  of  evil  is  peciiliarly  rapid.  One  of 
the  most  startling  features  of  the  law  of  degeneration  is  the 
rapidity  of  its  action.  Highly  organized  creatures,  whose 
perfection  is  the  result  of  untold  periods  of  evolution,  will 
degenerate  in  a  very  brief  period  into  a  mere  sac ;  slowly 
indeed  do  creatures  attain  complexity,  strength,  intelligence, 
splendour,  but  with  changed  circumstances  they  rapidly 
become  miserable  parasites,  retaining  no  vestige  of  their  old 
glory.  But  it  has  been  justly  said  "no  known  animal 
possesses  such  a  capacity  for  degradation  as  man."  While 
unnumbered  centuries  are  required  by  evolution  for  the 
selective  development  of  an  Englishman  from  a  troglodyte, 
five  or  ten  years  of  hard  drinking  are  quite  enough  to 
degrade  an  intellectual  Hercules  into  the  condition,  mental 
and  physical,  of  a  digger  Indian.^  The  moral  degeneration 
of  men  is  still  more  awfully  precipitate.  With  much  patience 
'  Thornton,  "  Opposites." 


THE  EVOLUTION   OF  EVIL.  II9 

and  painstaking  do  we  master  our  faults ;  slowly,  through 
continuous  aspiration,  prayer,  and  sacrifice,  do  we  fulfil  our 
ideals;  but  with  alarming  facility  we  "throw  back"  to  baser 
life,  with  shocking  speed  do  we  drop  from  heights  of 
purity  and  vision  into  depths  of  infamy.  It  is  true  that 
sin  does  not  produce  devils  in  us  all  at  once,  any  more 
than  that  grace  begets  angels  in  us  all  at  once — there  is 
an  infancy  in  evil  as  well  as  in  good ;  but,  whatever  may 
be  the  reason,  evil  grows  faster  than  good ;  it  has  a  short 
infancy.  As  Amiel  says,  "  The  germs  of  all  things  are  in 
every  heart,  and  the  greatest  criminals  as  well  as  the 
greatest  heroes  are  but  different  modes  of  ourselves.  Only 
evil  grows  of  itself,  while  for  goodness  we  want  effort  and 
courage."  Yes,  evil  grows  of  itself,  grows  vigorously.  With 
infinite  care  we  rear  the  rare  roses,  but  how  spontaneously 
and  luxuriantly  spring  the  weeds  !  By  costly  culture  we 
ripen  the  golden  sheaf,  but  how  the  noxious  poppies  bloom! 
Very  tenderly  must  we  nourish  things  of  beauty,  but  how 
the  vermin  breed  and  swarm  !  And  so,  whilst  the  germs  of 
good  in  our  heart  come  to  fruition  only  after  long  years  of 
vigilance  and  devotion,  the  tares  are  ever  springing  up  in  a 
night,  dashing  the  beauty  with  their  blackness,  and  bearing 
the  hundredfold  of  bitterness  and  blasting. 

3.  The  evolution  of  evil  in  relation  to  destiny.  Men  in 
this  life  often  go  a  long  way  in  the  development  of  evil ; 
they  become  dead  to  truth,  to  decency,  to  hope.  But  we 
have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  this  degeneration  ends  here. 
Revelation  fixes  no  limit  to  the  evolution  of  good.  "  Now 
are  we  the  sons  of  God,  and  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what 
we  shall  be."  Delightful  doctrine  !  It  has  not  entered 
into  the  human  heart  to  conceive  its  own  possibilities  of 
glory  and  joy.     But  at  the  same  time  revelation  fixes  no 


120  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   EVIL. 

limit   to  the  evolution   of  evil.     It  propounds   the   awful 
doctrine  of  a  "  bottomless  pit/'  which,  in  the  language  of 
our  day,  signifies  unarrested,  limitless  degradation.     As  the 
pure   ever  ascend  to  rarer  heights  of  power,  vision,  and 
felicity,  the  impure  ever  sink  in  deeper  depths  of  iniquity, 
woe,  and  blasphemy.     And  is  not  this  doctrine  of  future 
degeneration  in  keeping  with  the  law  of  degeneration  as  we 
know  it  here  and  now  ?     It  has  been  asserted  that  "  the 
doctrine  of  evolution,  so  far  as  it  is  accepted,  changes  the 
whole  relations  of  man  to  the  creative  power ;  it  substitutes 
infinite  hope  in  the  place  of  infinite  despair."     But  is  this 
exactly   so  ?      Does   the   theory   of  evolution  justify  this 
optimism  ?      We  think  not.     Speaking  of  the   organisms 
brought  to  light  by  the  Atlantic  dredging  expedition.  Dr. 
Carpenter  says,  "  This  Httle  organism  is  clearly  a  dwarfed 
and    deformed    representative    of  the    highly    developed 
Apiocrlniis  of  the   Bradford  clay;    which,   as   my   friend 
Wyville  Thomson  said,  seems  to  have  been  going  to  the 
bad  for  milHons  of  years."  ^     Thus  we  learn  that  a  lowly 
creature  living  on  the  ocean  floor  is  capable  of  going  to 
the  bad  for  millions  of  years ;  through  vast  ages  it  has  ever 
become  more  dwarfed,  deformed,  degraded.     But  if  such  a 
vast  course  of  degradation  is  possible  in  a  sea-worm,  what 
are  the  possibiUties  of  degradation  in  a  soul  ?     If  the  simple, 
comparatively  insignificant  creature  of  the  slime  is  capable 
of  a  debasement  extending  over  long  ages,  who  may  fix  the 
limit  to  the  possible  deterioration  of  a  being  so  complex, 
profound,  and  inexhaustible  as  man  ?    If  the  lowest  creature 
has  such  a  capacity  for  degeneration,  how  many  ages  will 
it  demand  to  bring  the  highest  creature  to  the  point  of 
elimination  and  extinction  ?     Science  has  found  a  bottom- 
'   *'  Nature  and  Man." 


THE  EVOLUTION   OF  EVIL.  121 

less  pit  so  far  as  anything  material  can  be  bottomless,  and 
really  science  has  nothing  to  say  against  a  spiritual  being 
waxing  worse  and  worse  through  indefinite  ages.  What  is 
so  clearly  evidenced  in  the  semi-immortahty  of  a  species, 
may  easily  be  true  in  the  individual  immortal  soul. 

It  may  be  objected  that  there  is  a  limit  to  the  action  and 
perpetuation  of  the  abnormal— that  nature  either  purifies  a 
race  of  its  physical  and  moral  defects,  or,  if  the  type  be  too 
vicious,  exterminates  it ;  but  in  a  spiritual  universe  wicked- 
ness may  work  itself  out  with  a  fulness  of  consequence 
which  is  impossible  in  this  terrestrial  life.  The  physical 
universe  supplies  the  analogy  of  interminable  degradation, 
and  it  could  not  be  expected  to  give  any  further  demonstra- 
tion. Our  Lord  makes  no  formal  attempt  to  teach  us  the 
secrets  of  the  prison-house,  but  accidentally,  as  it  were,  He 
gives  us  awful  glimpses  into  the  degradation  of  the  abyss. 
The  "  unclean  spirit "  that  goes  out  of  a  man  is  bad  enough 
in  all  conscience,  and  yet  he  can  find  "  other  spirits  more 
wicked  than  himself."  Out  of  the  lowest  deep  there  opens 
a  lower ;  one  bad  hierarchy  sinking  below  another.  We 
consider — 

II.  The  principle  on  which  the  evolution  of  evil  proceeds. 
"  Deceiving  and  being  deceived."  The  principle  on  which 
the  evolution  of  evil  proceeds  is  the  action  of  the  social  law. 
It  is  by  a  system  of  reciprocal  action  that  the  irrational 
creatures  are  stimulated  and  developed  ;  pitted  one  against 
another,  the  various  orders  of  beasts  and  birds  attain  and 
maintain  their  best.  By  association,  mutuality,  rivalry,  the 
animal  race  realizes  a  perfection  of  form  and  force  that 
would  be  utterly  impossible  to  it  in  a  state  of  isolation. 
And  the  normal  action  of  the  social  law  is  to  secure  the 
highest  perfection  of  humanit3\      We  are  associated  into 


122  THE   EVOLUTION   OF  EVIL. 

tribes,  families,  nations,  that  the  individual  may  be  educated 
and  completed  in  his  intellectual,  affectional,  and  moral 
life.  Only  by  this  system  of  relations  and  reactions  can  the 
great  possibihties  of  our  nature  be  accomplished  ;  men  can 
only  do  their  best,  put  forth  their  strongest,  live  out  their 
noblest,  as  they  mingle  together,  combine,  co-operate._ 
Solitude  has  its  place  in  the  education  of  the  human  life, 
but  the  influence  of  isolation  may  soon  become  enfeebHng 
and  destructive.  The  action  of  the  social  law  is  to  enrich 
each  individual  member  of  the  community ;  it  means  help, 
enrichment,  defence,  all  round.  And  that  hope  for  the 
future  which  is  the  mainspring  of  civilization  is  based  on 
the  social  law  which,  duly  kept,  tends  constantly  to  produce 
a  higher  order  of  men  and  women.  The  expectation  of  a 
golden  age  rests  on  that  profound  complex  law  which  God 
has  inwrought  into  the  very  soul  of  the  race,  holding  it 
together,  securing  its  safety,  provoking  it  to  unwonted 
excellence,  transmitting  its  treasures,  strengthening  it  to 
splendid  achievements  altogether  beyond  the  dreams  of 
isolated  personal  life.  Here,  then,  is  the  principal  and  \ 
benign  design  of  that  social  law  so  firmly  established  by  ' 
God  in  the  very  constitution  of  things — its  working  and 
discipline  are  to  eliminate  the  diseased,  the  imbecile,  the 
unworthy,  the  unhappy,  and  to  fill  the  world  with  the  best/ 
of  everything  at  its  best. 

But  man's  lower  nature  can  act  through  the  social  spirit 
as  well  as  his  higher  ;  it  is  possible  to  pervert  and  prostitute 
the  social  law  in  such  a  way  that  it  produces  the  direst  con- 
sequences. Men  may  be  made  worse  as  well  as  better  by 
association.  That  which  was  ordained  unto  life  through  sin 
works  ruin  and  death.  Faithfully  obey  the  social  law,  and 
it  secures  the  highest  perfection  of  the  individual;  pervert  it, 


THE   EVOLUTION   OF   EVIL.  1 23 

and  it  inflicts  the  deepest  degradation.  Death  is  worked 
by  that  which  is  good ;  man's  intellectual  powers  are  cor- 
rupted, his  heart  withered,  his  life  debased,  in  an  extra- 
ordinary degree.  Through  the  fellowship  of  sinners  the 
vices  get  their  most  desperate  hold,  and  their  most  terrible 
developments.  The  law  that  was  designed  to  secure  the 
soundest  health,  the  rarest  beauty,  the  most  delicate  fitness, 
the  fullest  joy,  produces  disease,  horror,  ugliness,  unfitness, 
misery,  in  their  most  intense  and  exaggerated  forms.  The 
perversion  of  the  social  law  is  as  when  Alpine  climbers 
stumble,  and  the  ropes  which  were  intended  to  strengthen 
them  to  reach  glorious  heights  drag  down  the  whole  party 
into  the  frightful  abyss.  The  corruption  of  the  best  is  ever 
the  worst,  and  the  corruption  of  that  noblest  law  which  con- 
templates our  highest  perfection  and  felicity  can  only  mean 
proportionate  disaster  and  misery. 

Do  we  not  see  abundant  illustrations  of  the  sad  con- 
sequences of  the  perversion  of  social  law.^*  Criminals 
are  said  to  display  quite  a  fiendish  pleasure  in  corrupting 
one  another;  they  will  not  permit  in  a  fellow-prisoner 
any  slender  vestige  of  a  virtue,  but  unceasingly  drag  one 
another  down  to  deeper  depths  of  foulness  and  blasphemy. 
And  evil  men  on  every  side  through  the  social  law  wax 
worse  and  worse,  deceiving  and  being  deceived.  They 
dare  one  another,  provoke,  tempt,  decoy,  blind,  coerce, 
punish  one  another.  They  defraud,  corrupt,  afflict  one 
another  with  perverse  ingenuity  and  base  enthusiasm. 
Often  they  do  all  this  consciously  and  designedly,  and 
when  they  do  not  act  with  deliberate  purpose  their  evil 
communications  are  not  less  corrupting.  So  far  from  the 
troubled  sea  working  itself  pure,  deep  calleth  unto  deep, 
the  mire  and  dirt  are  more  offensive,  and  the  raging  waves 


124  THE  EVOLUTION  OF  EVIL. 

foam  out  an  intenser  shame.  Here,  then,  we  perceive  the 
law  that  will  bring  to  pass  all  the  terrible  judgments  that 
revelation  pronounces  against  transgressors.  We  need  not 
to  perplex  ourselves  about  strange  material  tortures,  and 
mysterious  methods  of  retribution ;  in  the  perversion  of 
that  social  law  with  which  we  are  so  familiar,  we  find  the 
worm  that  dieth  not  and  the  fire  that  is  not  quenched. 
The  law  of  mutuality  that  has  worked  out  for  us  so  many 
glorious  things,  and  on  whose  benign  action  we  now  rest  such 
glorious  hopes,  will  become  an  instrument  of  immeasurable 
degradation  and  woe  in  the  sphere  of  false  and  foul  and 
passionate  life.  We  see  already  the  mighty  corrupting 
force  of  perverted  reciprocity,  but  what  shall  be  the  tragical 
condition  of  things  when  the  restrictions  and  ameliorations 
of  the  present  are  removed,  and  when  the  law  of  retribu- 
tion, left  to  its  full  action,  shall  fill  guilty  souls  with  the 
fruits  of  their  own  ways  !  *'  Then  he  said,  I  pray  thee 
therefore,  father,  that  thou  wouldest  send  Lazarus  to  my 
father's  house  :  for  I  have  five  brethren ;  that  he  may 
testify  unto  them,  lest  they  also  come  into  this  place  of 
torment."  Well  might  Dives  dread  the  coming  of  his  five 
brethren,  for  in  the  social  law  is  the  secret  of  the  fulness  of 
woe  and  of  the  pains  which  are  for  evermore. 

Let  us  conclude  with  one  or  two  lessons  suggested  by 
our  theme. 

I.  Let  us  avoid  the  beginnings  of  evil.  Here  we  are 
called  specially  to  watch.  Says  a  writer  who  cannot  be 
suspected  of  any  theological  sympathies,  "The  steps  by 
which  the  occasional  criminal  develops  into  the  habitual 
criminal  are  slow  and  subtle ;  this  is  one  of  the  tragedies 
of  life.  .  .  .  The  circles  of  crime  extend  from  heaven  to 
very  murky  depths  of  hell,  and  yet  they  are  not  far  from 


THE   EVOLUTION   OF  EVIL.  I25 

any  one  of  us."  ^  Very  true  words  are  these  touching  a 
great  tragedy  of  life.  Let  us  beware  of  the  first  step  from 
innocency,  safety,  heaven.  A  while  ago  the  omnibus  on 
its  way  from  Gray's  Inn  Road  to  IsUngton  had  to  traverse 
a  narrow  and  dangerous  piece  of  roadway — a  sharp, 
slippery  declivity,  called  "The  Devil's  Slide."  How 
terrible,  indeed,  is  the  devil's  slide  !  How  tempting  it  is  ! 
— a  short  cut,  a  very  short  cut,  to  fame,  wealth,  power, 
pleasure.  How  graduated  and  smooth  it  is !  What  a 
specious  name  it  often  has !  Strangely  enough,  that 
declivity  in  London  was  called  "  Mount  Pleasant ; "  and 
the  downward  roads  of  life  often  are  known  by  charming 
names.  But  enter  on  that  slide,  and  you  soon  attain  a 
startling  velocity,  sooner  or  later  you  arrive  at  an  igno- 
minious doom.  Let  no  man  think  himself  safe.  The 
circles  of  crime  dipping  to  very  murky  depths  of  hell  are 
not  far  from  any  one  of  us.  Let  every  man  be  careful  at 
the  cross-roads  of  life  lest  he  take  the  wrong  turning.  Let 
every  man  remember  that  he  is  to  pray  not  only  for 
strength  against  temptation,  but  that  he  be  not  led  into 
temptation ;  he  is  to  watch  that  he  enter  not  into 
temptation. 

2.  Let  us  cultivate  purity  of  heart.  In  the  thoughts 
which  are  "far  off"  is  the  ultimate  danger.  There  is  no 
evolution  where  there  is  no  germ.  Before  peeping  and 
muttering  against  the  faith  there  is  a  thought  of  unbeUef. 
Before  the  first  faint  denial  of  godhness  there  is  a  thought 
of  worldliness.  Before  the  act  of  sin  is  the  thought  of  sin. 
It  is  from  these  soul-seeds  that  the  dire  acts  and  conse- 
quences of  sin  outflower.  Here  we  see  again  how  truly 
philosophical  is  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ.  Our  Lord  is  not 
^  Havelock  Ellis,  "  The  Criminal." 


126  THE   EVOLUTION   OF   EVIL. 

content  to  cut  off  sin  above  ground ;  He  must  destroy  the 
root  as  well  as  the  branch.     Just  as  the  scientist  nowadays 
feels  that  disease  must  be  attacked  in  the  germ,  so  the 
faith  of  Christ  attacks  sin  in  its  very   origin.     Purity  of 
heart  is  the  burden  of  the  New  Testament.     Let  us  seek 
for  perfect  sincerity  of  heart ;   that  we    have  no   aim    or 
desire  in  life  that  supersedes  or  disturbs  our  purpose  of 
living  to  the  glory  of  God.     Let  us  seek  for  a  heart  full  of 
noble  thoughts  and  sympathies,  in  which  no  room  is  left 
for  selfish  and  sensual  imaginations.     Let  us  seek  that  our 
heart  shall  be  strong  in  love  and  goodness  ;  that  we  do 
not  allow   those  conditions  of  coldness  and  weakness   in 
which  moral  diseases,  as  well  as  natural  ones,  take  their 
origin.    Let  us  seek  that  our  heart  be  full  of  holy  gladness  ; 
that  we  have  no  affinity  for  the  pursuits  and  pleasures  of 
baser  life.     Here  is  the  solemn  duty  of  life,  to  seek  out 
and   destroy   the   germs   of  evil   wherever   these  may  be 
found.     We   must   in   no   lazy,  or   unbelieving,  or  super- 
stitious spirit  permit  any  evil  to  abide  in  society  that  we 
might   utterly  destroy,  for  from  that  evil   may  spring  an 
epidemic  of  crimes,  the  decadence  of  a  nation ;  and  when 
we  have  interdicted  every  vice  by  law  and  opinion,  we  must 
still  carry  righteousness   back  into  the  public  conscience, 
we  must  establish  goodness  in  the  heart  of  the  people,  or 
every  evil   that  makes  us   mourn   will    spring   again   into 
power.     And   in   our   personal   life   we    must  be   equally 
radical.     Oh,  what  would  not  the  patient  give  to  have  the 
last  fibre  of  the  dreadful  cancer  removed,  for  whilst  that 
fibre  is  there  every  possibility  of  the  malady  is  there  !     So 
let  us  pray  that  God  by  His  almighty  grace  may  cleanse 
the  very  thoughts  of  our  heart,  so  shall  we  be  innocent 
from  the  great  transgression.     Air,  sunshine,  fragrance,  are 


THE   EVOLUTION    OF   EVIL.  12/ 

all  said  to  be  fatal  to  destroying  germs ;  let  us  saturate  our 
soul  day  by  day  in  the  atmosphere  and  light  and  sweetness 
of  the  upper  worlds,  so  shall  all  evil  things  die  in  us,  and 
all  good  things  live  and  grow  in  us. 

3.  Let  us  loyally  keep  the  social  law.  We  have  seen  how 
the  social  law  when  perverted  acts  most  fatally,  making 
monsters  of  men ;  but  that  law  duly  observed  will  prove  an 
instrument  of  blessing,  and  we  cannot  attain  perfection 
without  it.  In  a  life  of  virtue  we  must  not  attempt  to  stand 
alone.  We  must  have  fellowship  with  the  saints.  In  the 
world  we  see  men  waxing  worse  and  worse,  deceiving  and 
being  deceived;  in  the  Church  we  witness  the  gracious 
spectacle  of  men  waxing  better  and  better,  uplifting  and 
being  uplifted.  Here,  in  mutual  conversation  and  worship 
and  service,  sincere  souls  find  themselves  unspeakably 
enriched  and  strengthened.  No  one  intent  on  serving 
God  can  afford  to  dispense  with  the  communion  of  saints, 
the  discipline  and  stimulations  of  the  Christian  Church. 
And  then  we  must  loyally  hold  by  the  social  law  in  the 
whole  sphere  of  life.  Instructing  others,  we  shall  find  our- 
selves illuminated ;  rescuing  others,  we  shall  ourselves  be 
saved;  watering  others,  we  shall  be  watered;  enriching  others, 
our  gifts  shall  return  sevenfold  into  our  own  bosom. 
Many  sincere  souls  are  weak  and  poor  because  they  do 
not  understand  the  place  and  power  of  the  social  law  in 
the  development  of  Christian  character.  With  a  true  heart 
bend  yourself  to  God's  service,  live  in  the  fellowship  of  His 
people  and  in  the  service  of  your  generation  according  to 
His  will,  and  whatever  may  be  the  witchery,  the  fecundity, 
the  tyranny  of  sin,  you  shall  overcome  it.  **  Devil  with 
devil  damned  firm  concord  holds,"  and  through  their  con- 
cord become  sevenfold  more  the  children  of  hell  than  they 


128  THE   EVOLUTION    OF   EVIL. 

were  before  j  the  seraphim  cry  one  to  another,  and  as  they 
cry  they  burn — burn  into  an  ever  purer  and  diviner  flame. 
Let  us  with  the  seraphim  seize  the  social  law,  and  mutual 
love,  devotion,  and  service  wull  one  day  place  us  by  their 
side. 


THE   PUNISHMENT   OF   EVIL, 


K— 14 


f! 


THE  PUNISHMENT  OF  EVIL. 

"Thussaith  the  Lord:  Deceive  not  yourselves;,  saying,  The  Chaldeans 
slmll  surely  depart  from  us  :  for  they  shall  not  depart.  For  though  ye 
had  smitten  the  whole  army  of  the  Chaldeans  that  light  against  ycni, 
and  there  remained  but  wounded  men  among  them,  yet  should  they  rise 
up  every  man  in  his  tent,  and  burn  this  city  with  fire."— Jer.  xxxvii, 
9,  10. 

Jeremiah  had  prophesied  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  at 
the  hands  of  the  Chaldeans.  The  Chaldeans  came  against 
the  city,  but  hearing  that  the  Egyptians  were  coming  out 
against  them,  they  forthwith  raised  the  siege,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  were  ready  to  believe  that  the 
storm  had  blown  over  and  that  they  were  safe.  The 
Clialdeans  had  hastily  departed,  and  the  dark  predictions 
of  Jeremiah  seemed  belied  by  the  event.  It  is  at  this  point 
that  Jeremiah  speaks  in  the  text,  *'  Thus  saith  the  Lord  : 
])eceive  not  yourselves,  saying,  The  Chaldeans  shall  surely 
depart  from  us  :  for  they  shall  not  depart."  And  so  it  came 
to  pass.  Pharaoh's  army  which  came  forth  to  help  Israel 
returned  to  Egypt,  and  the  Chaldeans  coming  again  to 
Jerusalem  invested  the  city  and  burned  it  with  fire.  The 
great  teaching  of  the  text  is,  then,  tliat  we  must  not  allow 
appearances  to  mislead  us  respecting  the  fact  and  certainty 
of  the  law  of  retribution.  God  has  threatened  the  trans- 
gressor with  severe  penalties,  and  we   may  be  sure  that 


133  THE   PUNISHMENT  OF   EVIL. 

these  penalties  will  be  inflicted,  however  unlikely  such 
retribution  may  sometimes  seem,  and  however  long  it  may 
be  delayed.  By  wonderful  ways  God  brings  His  judgments 
to  pass. 

I.  We  mark  some  ilhtstratio7is  of  the  law  of  retribution 
furjiished  by  the  history  of  the  nations.  The  Old  Testament 
records  many  instances  of  the  fact  that  God  makes  the  law 
of  retribution  to  act  by  unlikely  instruments,  in  unlikely 
ways,  and  at  unlikely  times.  Very  memorable  was  the 
retribution  that  Israel  brought  on  Egypt.  For  four  hundred 
years  the  Egyptian  oppressed  the  Israelite,  and  at  the  end 
of  that  period  nothing  seemed  more  unlikely  than  that 
those  groaning  slaves  could  retaliate  and  do  Egypt  any 
hurt.  On  the  one  side  was  a  mighty  people,  with  palaces, 
temples,  armies,  with  wealth,  pride,  and  power;  and  on 
the  other  side  was  a  handful  of  slaves,  crushed  and  bleed- 
ing through  the  bitter  bondage  of  four  centuries.  So  far 
as  human  calculation  went,  Pharaoh  might  well  despise 
them.  But  these  helpless  slaves  were  God's  "  wounded 
men,"  and  by  them  was  the  throne  of  Pharaoh  overturned 
and  the  glory  of  Egypt  darkened.  At  the  other  end  of 
their  national  history,  Israel  itself  furnishes  a  most  striking 
illustration  of  the  working  of  the  law  of  retribution  through 
all  improbabilities.  When  the  Christ  was  crucified  through 
weakness,  the  people  cried,  "  His  blood  be  upon  us,  and 
upon  our  children."  How  unlikely  did  it  seem  that  the 
Victim  of  Calvary  could  ever  be  avenged  upon  an  unjust 
nation  !  And  yet  that  "  wounded  Man  "  rose  up  invested 
with  strange  powers,  and  burned  their  city  with  fire. 

And  let  us  not  think  that  these  instances  of  retribution 
are  to  be  placed  in  the  category  of  the  miraculous ;  they 
were  the  natural  consequences  of  great  denials  of  truth 


THE   PUNISHMENT   OF   EVIL.  133 

and  justice.  Men  unjustly  ''pierced  through"  are  terrible 
avengers  in  all  ages  and  nations.  For  centuries  did  the 
kings  and  nobles  of  France  oppress  the  peasantry ;  it  is 
impossible  for  us  to  think  adequately  of  the  vast  hopeless 
wretchedness  of  the  people  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave. 
When  I.ouis  XVI.  came  to  the  throne  it  seemed  incredible 
that  the  long-suffering  people  would  ever  avenge  themselves 
upon  the  powerful  classes  by  whom  they  were  ground  to 
the  dust,  and  yet  by  a  marvellous  series  of  events  the 
"  wounded  men "  arose  in  awful  wrath,  burning  palaces 
with  fire  and  trampling  greatness  underfoot.  "  Pierced 
through  "  were  those  hungry  hopeless  millions  :  but  the  day 
of  doom  came,  and  every  bleeding  wretch  arose  invincible 
with  torch  and  sword.  For  generations  the  African  was 
wronged  by  the  American ;  the  negro  had  no  military, 
political,  or  literary  power ;  he  was  bought  and  sold  as  are 
the  dumb  driven  cattle,  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  fetters  of  a 
shameful  degradation  were  riveted  upon  him  for  ever.  "Was 
there  a  shield  or  spear  seen  among  forty  thousand  in  Israel  ?," 
As  late  as  1854  Wendell  Phillips  wrote  despairingly, 
**  Indeed,  the  Government  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
slave  power  completely.  So  far  as  national  pohtics  are 
concerned,  we  are  beaten — there's  no  hope.  .  .  .  The 
future  seems  to  unfold  a  vast  slave  empire  united  with 
Brazil,  and  darkening  the  whole  West.  I  hope  I  may  be  a 
false  prophet,  but  the  sky  was  never  so  dark."  And  yet 
immediately  after  this  the  *'  wounded  men  "  arose,  deluging 
the  land  with  blood  and  burning  the  cities  of  the  great 
Republic  with  fire.  Have  we  not  another  illustration  in 
the  wonderful  way  in  which  God  finally  delivered  Italy  from 
the  deadly  ecclesiastical  misgovernment  of  ages  ?  The 
Pope  of  Rome  and  the  King  of  France  together  declared 


134  THE    PUNISHMENT    OF   EVIL. 

that  the  Italian  people  should  never  acquire  Rome,  and 
with  it  the  sovereignly  of  Italy.  Garibaldi  was  lying  terribly 
wounded ;  there  seemed  no  hope ;  yet  once  more  the 
"  wounded  man  "  prevailed — France  was  burned  with  fire, 
Italy  was  free.  And  God  rules  among  the  nations  to-day 
as  certainly  as  He  ruled  the  nations  of  old;  and  just  as 
certainly  will  He  bring  us  into  judgment  if  we  are  guilty  of 
atheism,  injustice,  unrighteousness.  If  we  keep  back  the 
hire  of  the  labourer  who  has  reaped  our  fields,  cr  if  our 
labourers  fail  to  fulfil  their  share  of  the  covenant  and  are 
guilty  of  extortion,  indolence,  and  excess  ;  if  we  starve  or 
wrong  those  who  weave  our  purple  and  create  our  luxuries ; 
if  we  get  gain  by  adulterations  which  defraud  and  poison  ; 
if,  for  the  sake  of  any  base  gratification  or  mercenary  end, 
we  take  advantage  of  those  who  are  inferior  to  ourselves 
in  knowledge  and  station ;  if  we  employ  our  political  and 
military  ascendency  to  wrong  any  subject  tribe  or  nation  ; 
God  will  surely  visit  us,  humble  us,  destroy  us. 

Brethren,  let  us  again  believe  in  the  reign  of  eternal 
justice.  Such  was  the  faith  of  the  glorious  prophets  of 
Israel ;  they  believed  in  the  just  God,  and  taught  with 
profound  and  unflinching  courage  that  no  nation  can  violate 
the  law  of  righteousness  with  impunity,  and  history  gives 
its  sanction  to  the  sublime  teaching.  Retribution  may  not 
come  in  the  form  of  a  loss  of  territory,  but  it  will  come. 
Some  of  our  writers  argue  that  retribution  does  not  follow 
on  national  wrong-doing,  because  territory  gained  by  cruelty, 
treachery,  bloodshed,  is  not  as  a  matter  of  fact  torn  away 
from  its  guilty  conquerors,  but  such  ill-acquired  territory 
remains  a  permanent  portion  of  their  splendid  empire. 
But  there  are  other  ways  of  inflicting  retribution  upon  a 
nation    than   by   immediately    depriving   it    of   provinces. 


THE   PUNISHMENT  OF   EVlL.  1 35 

There  is  something  very  like  irony  in  the  government 
of  God,  and  He  sometimes  punishes  the  victors  through  the 
spoil.  Our  Indian  Empire  is  said  to  have  been  ill-gotten, 
and  yet  we  retain  it,  that  country  being  to  Britain  what 
the  tail  is  to  the  peacock — our  glory  and  pride.  But  the 
gilded  train,  it  will  be  remembered,  has  been  already 
splashed  with  blood,  and  the  end  is  not  yet.  Retribution 
may  not  come  in  the  form  of  specially  inflicted  judgments, 
but  it  will  come.  No  pestilence,  war,  earthquake,  or 
famine  marks  the  Divine  displeasure,  but  the  retribution 
arises  out  of  the  iniquity.  With  great  injustice  and  cruelty 
the  French  drove  out  the  Huguenots,  but  in  expelling 
these  sons  of  faith,  genius,  industry,  virtue,  the  French 
fatally  impoverished  their  national  life,  and  they  are  suffering 
to-day  from  these  missing  elements  which  none  may  restore. 
Retribution  may  not  be  revealed  in  material  disaster,  but  it 
will  come.  "  And  he  gave  them  their  request  :  but  sent 
leanness  into  their  soul."  It  is  possible  for  a  people  to 
increase  in  material  wealth  and  political  consideration 
whilst  its  true  grandeur,  its  greatness  of  soul,  is  gradually 
passing  away.  Very  strange  and  subtle  are  the  causes  of 
the  decay  of  nations,  and  little  by  little,  quite  unconsciously, 
does  a  people  lose  the  great  qualities  which  made  it.  Poets 
lose  their  fire,  artists  their  imagination,  merchants  their 
enterprise,  statesmen  their  sagacity,  soldiers  their  heroism, 
the  people  their  self-control ;  literature  becomes  common- 
places, art  lifeless,  great  men  dwindle  into  mediocrities, 
good  men  perish  from  the  land,  and  the  glory  of  a  nation 
departs,  leaving  only  a  shell,  a  shadow,  a  memory.  Retri- 
bution may  not  come  suddenly,  but  it  will  come.  "  Alas  ! 
alas  !  that  great  city  that  was  clothed  in  fine  I'nen,  and 
purjile,  and  scarle*^,  and   decked   willi   gold,   and   precious 


136  THE   PUNISHMENT   OF   EVIL. 

stones,  and  pearls.  For  in  one  hour  so  great  riches  is  come 
to  nought."  The  destruction  of  Babylon  is  not  always 
thus  sudden,  but  it  is  sure.  As  Mommsen,  one  of  the 
greatest  of  historians,  dec' ares,  "History  has  a  Nemesis 
for  every  sin  ! " 

It  may  seem  that  all  might  and  majesty  are  with  an 
unjust  nation,  and  that  "  wounded  men  "  only  are  on  the 
other  side ;  but  at  God's  call  wounded  men  arc  Michaels 
wielding  flaming  swords.  "  The  foolishness  of  God  is 
wiser  than  men."  Sometimes  we  are  greatly  amazed  and 
perplexed  at  the  way  in  which  history  unfolds  itself — it 
would  seem  as  if  the  diplomacy  of  evil  were  too  much  for 
the  Ruler  of  the  world,  as  if  Providence  made  hesitating 
moves,  weak  moves,  fatal  moves ;  but  we  have  only  to 
wait  awhile  to  know  that  God's  foohshness  is  wiser  than 
men.  "  He  taketh  the  wise  in  their  own  craftiness ;"  "  The 
Lord  shall  have  them  in  derision."  "  The  weakness  of  God 
is  stronger  than  men."  The  sun  is  sometimes  weak,  but  its 
earliest  ray  in  the  dawn  is  more  than  all  our  electric  lights, 
the  first  faint  beam  of  the  spring  is  infinitely  more  than  all 
the  sparks  of  our  kindling ;  the  sea  is  sometimes  weak — it  is 
a  mill-pond,  we  say — but  in  its  softest  ripple  is  a  suggestion 
of  power  that  fills  us  with  awe ;  the  wind  is  sometimes  weak, 
but  in  the  gentlest  zephyr  is  hinted  the  majesty  of  infinite 
strength.  Nature  shows  how  the  weakness  of  God  is 
immeasurably  stronger  than  men ;  so  does  history  with 
equal  clearness.  The  oft-quoted  saying,  "  Providence  is 
always  on  the  side  of  the  big  battalions,"  is  one  with  an 
imposing  sound,  but  it  is  disproved  by  history  over  and  over 
again.  Some  of  the  decisive  battles  of  the  world  were  won 
by  the  small  battalions.  More  than  once  has  the  sling  and 
the  stone  prevailed  against  the  Philistine  army.     Battles 


THE   PUNISHMENT   OF   EVIL.  1 37 

are  won  by  the  big  brain ;  and  wherever  that  may  be,  shght 

weapons  and  resources  are  sufficient  for  splendid  victories. 

Now  the  all-wise  God  sits  on  the  throne  of  the  world,  and 

we  are  often  filled  with  astonishment  at  the  insignificant 

agents  with  which  Heaven  smites  its  foes,  and  causes  victory 

to  settle  on  the  banners  of  right  and  justice.     The  world's 

Ruler  defeated  Pharaoh  with  frogs  and  flies  ;  He  humbled 

Israel  with  the  grasshopper ;  He  smeared  the  splendour  of 

Herod  with  worms ;  on  the  plains  of  Russia,  He  broke  the 

power  of  Napoleon  with  a  snowflake.     God  has  no  need  to 

despatch  an  archangel )  when  once  He  is  angry,  a  microbe 

will  do. 

'•'  The  heavens  make  no  sound, 
Their  laughter's  in  events." 

II.  JVe  note  the  laiv  of  retribution  as  exemplified  in  the 
individual  life.  The  great  law  works  infallibly  in  the 
personal  history  as  it  does  in  the  national  life.  "  Who  will 
render  to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds.  .  .  .  Unto 
them  that  are  contentious,  and  do  not  obey  the  truth,  but 
obey  unrighteousness,  indignation  and  wrath,  tribulation 
and  anguish,  upon  every  soul  of  man  that  doeth  evil,  of  the 
Jew  first,  and  also  of  the  Gentile."  It  was  very  difficult  for 
men  of  that  age  to  realize  their  individuality  ;  but  the  Apostle 
declares  to  them  that  they  stand  out  personally  quite  distinct 
from  Church  or  State,  and  that  each  of  them  will  be  dealt 
with  in  equal  justice.  And  in  these  days  of  cosmic  philo- 
sophies and  large  social  conceptions,  we  must  not  forget 
that  the  individual  has  not  parted  with  an  iota  of  responsi- 
bility. What  is  true  of  the  mass  is  first  true  of  the  atom ; 
what  is  true  of  the  ocean  is  first  true  of  the  drop.  It  is 
easy  to  see  the  law  of  retribution  when  it  is  exemplified  in 
the  broad  effects  of  national  calamity,  but  not  so  easy  to 


138  THE    PUNISHMENT   OF    EVIL. 

apprehend  its  action  in  the  individual  fortune.  We  stand 
in  awe  over  the  shattered  greatness  and  buried  splendour 
of  Egypt,  Babylon,  Judaea,  Phoenicia,  Greece ;  but  the  ruin 
that  sin  works  in  the  individual  destiny  is  just  as  certain, 
and  infinitely  more  awful.  If  we  could  once  see  a  soul  in 
ruins,  we  should  never  speak  again  of  Nineveh,  Memphis, 
Jerusalem,  Tyre,  Athens.  "  Deceive  not  yourselves."  God 
has  wonderful  ways  of  confounding  us,  and  we  may  be  sure 
that  our  sins  will  find  us  out. 

I.  Let  us  not  permit  ourselves  to  be  deceived  by  flattering 
prophets.  There  were  prophets  who  spoke  comfortably  to 
Zedekiah,  assuring  him  of  his  own  safety  and  of  the  safety 
of  the  city,  and  these  prophets  were  popular  whilst  Jeremiah 
was  cast  into  prison  ;  nevertheless,  the  dark  things  predicted 
by  Jeremiah  came  to  pass.  In  the  present  time  there  is  no 
lack  of  soft-tongued  prophets.  Loudly  does  revelation  declare 
the  obligation  of  righteousness,  and  grievous  are  the  judg- 
ments that  it  pronounces  against  transgressors,  but  all  this 
in  our  age  has  been  accepted  in  quite  a  modified  sense. 
Men  will  now  hardly  allow  such  a  word  as  "  wrath  !  "  they  will 
not  permit  a  man  to  suffer  simply  as  a  punishment  for  his 
sin  ;  the  violation  of  laws  human  and  divine  must  be  con- 
doned and  passed  over  with  the  least  reprobation  and 
vengeance.  Let  us  rejoice  in  the  growth  of  the  sentiment 
of  humanity,  but  we  must  shut  our  ears  to  the  effeminate 
and  sentimental  teaching  which  will  inevitably  relax  and 
destroy  a  noble  morality.  The  greatness  of  Rome  was 
built,  says  the  historian,  on  a  *'law  of  inexorable  severity  3" 
and  the  greatness  of  the  universe  is  built  on  such  a  law— 
a  law  that  will  be  eternally  enforced.  Look  at  the  severe 
laws  which  constantly  are  in  action  to  keep  the  physical 
universe  pure  !       Whatever  is  decaying,  languishing,  stag- 


THE    PUNISHMENT   OF   EVIL.  1^9 

nant,  is  injurious,  and  must  be  cleared  away.  Terrible 
forces  stand  ready  to  annihilate  rottenness.  In  the  river  is 
the  crocodile  ;  in  the  ocean  creeping  things  with  insatiable 
appetites ;  in  the  heavens  the  vulture,  eager  and  cruel ;  in 
the  air  insects  full  of  blind  wrath,  created  to  devour  as  the 
fire  is  to  consume  ;  on  every  side  are  these  anatomists, 
dissectors,  destroyers,  without  sobriety^  moderation,  or  pity, 
devouring  whatsoever  is  unclean,  and  keeping  the  world 
pure  as  with  a  consuming  flame.  And  are  there  not  in  the 
world  of  spirits  stern  laws  ever  working  to  maintain  ics 
purity?  Are  there  not  unpitying  messengers  casting  out  of 
the  higher  kingdom  whatsoever  does  offend?  Are  there 
not  living  executioners  eliminating  and  destroying  the 
morally  unclean,  and  whosoever  loveth  and  maketh  a  lie  ? 
Let  us  be  sure  that  as  death  and  filth  are  seized  upon  in 
the  physical  universe  and  cleansed  away  forthwith,  nothing 
that  is  defiled,  nothing  that  defileth,  shall  escape  in  that 
moral  universe,  in  the  centre  of  which  sits  One  the  eyes  of 
whose  glory  cannot  look  upon  iniquity.  Listen  not  to 
flattering  words.  God  is  merciful,  but  fire  does  not  forget 
to  burn,  teeth  to  tear,  water  to  drown,  and  no  transgression 
of  the  Law  can  pass  without  detection  and  punishment. 
"And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  him  that  escapeth  the 
sword  of  Hazael  shall  Jehu  slay."  God's  complex  system  of 
retribution  permits  not  the  cleverest  sinner  to  slip  through. 

2.  Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves  because  appearances  seem 
to  promise  iinmunity.  The  lad  who  determines  to  rob  his 
employers  acquaints  himself  with  the  business  methods  of 
the  house  in  which  he  is  engaged — the  store-keeping,  the 
book-keeping,  the  system  of  checks ;  and  at  length,  feeling 
perfectly  sure  of  the  situation,  he  proceeds  so  skilfully  to 
work   in   his  embezzlements   that  detection   seems  simply 


140  THE   I'UNISHMENT   OF   EVIL. 

impossible.  But  the  acute  youth  forgets  that  society  is  a 
great  deal  older  than  he  is,  that  it  is  a  great  deal  cleverer, 
that  through  vast  experience  it  has  elaborated  a  delicate  and 
comprehensive  system  of  detection,  and  the  young  sinner 
is  forthwith  entangled  in  the  meshes  of  the  law.  We  sadly 
smile  to  think  of  the  boy's  infatuation,  of  his  folly  in  match- 
ing himself  against  the  ages.  But  think  of  the  Divine 
system  of  retribution — how  wide-reaching,  exact,  inevitable  ! 
Our  severest  supervision,  our  keenest  espionage,  our  most 
adroit  arrangements,  our  most  vigilant  police,  our  most  ex- 
quisite and  effective  instruments,  all  are  coarse  and  clumsy 
compared  with  the  working  of  that  delicate  and  inevitable 
law  inwrought  by  God  into  the  very  constitution  of  the  race, 
and  into  the  very  constitution  of  things.  When  Joseph's 
brethren  had  thrown  their  young  brother  into  a  pit  and  left 
him  there,  how  utterly  hopeless  seemed  the  lad's  condition ! 
He  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes  buried  alive,  and  it  seemed 
absolutely  impossible  that  he  should  ever  avenge  himself 
upon  the  fratricides.  But  in  due  time  the  wounded  man 
was  on  the  throne  of  Egypt,  and  the  strong-handed  clever 
sinners  were  lamenting,  "  Verily  we  are  guilty  concerning 
our  brother."  And  we  may  be  sure  that  this  was  no 
singular  instance  of  God's  retributive  government,  but  rather 
a  dramatization  of  that  vast  eternal  justice  which  works 
sleeplessly  in  the  life  and  destiny  of  all  men.  Our  modern 
knowledge  of  science,  of  the  unity  and  interdependence  of 
all  things,  of  the  continuity  and  persistence  of  force  and 
motion,  of  the  inviolable  integrity  of  all  organisms,  ought  to 
make  it  easy  to  us  to  believe  that  whatsoever  a  man  soweth 
that  shall  he  reap,  however  appearances  may  promise  other- 
wise. Let  us  not  be  beguiled  by  the  immediate  aspects  of 
life  and  circumstance.      God's  blind  men  watch  us  ;  His 


THE  PUNISHMENT  OF   EVIL.  141 

lame  men  run  us  down ;  His  deaf  men  filch  our  secrets  ; 
His  dumb  men  impeach  us  ;  His  wounded  men  arise,  every 
man  a  messenger  of  revenge. 

3.  Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves  because  judgment  is 
delayed.  Scherer  objects  to  Milton's  conception  of  Satan  : 
"  How  are  we  to  comprehend  an  angel  who  enters  on  a 
conflict  with  God,  that  is  to  say,  with  a  being  whom  he 
knows  to  be  omnipotent  ?  .  .  .  The  idea  of  Satan  is  a 
contradictory  idea  :  for  it  is  contradictory  to  know  God 
and  yet  attempt  rivalry  with  Him."  ^  But  the  fact  is,  that 
what  Milton  pictures  in  Satan  we  see  every  day  in  men 
around  usj  we  find  it  in  ourselves.  It  appears  strange, 
when  we  are  suddenly  called  upon  to  contemplate  it  in 
poetic  beings,  that  they  should  array  themselves  against 
Omnipotence,  but  it  is  what  we  ourselves  are  doing  con- 
stantly ;  the  difficulty  of  comprehending  an  angel  who 
enters  on  a  conflict  with  God  can  hardly  be  insurmount 
able  to  that  humanity  which  perpetually  wages  a  similar 
conflict  with  Him.  It  may  to  pure  thought  and  logic  be 
contradictory  to  know  God  and  yet  attempt  rivalry  with 
Him,  but  it  is  a  sad  fact  to  which  there  is  abundant 
evidence  outside  pandemonium,  and  we  are  compelled  to 
regard  the  contradictory  idea  as  part  of  the  mystery  of 
iniquity.  Men  do  enter  into  conflict  with  the  laws  of  the 
world  ;  they  marshal  their  petty  forces  against  the  constel- 
lations ;  they  set  at  defiance  the  profound  arrangements  of 
nature,  society,  and  mind,  and  fancy  that  by  some  chance 
or  other  they  will  strew  the  firmament  with  ruin  and 
|.lant  their  throne  above  the  stars.  As  we  say,  it  is  the 
mystery  of  iniquity  that  creatures  can  be  the  victims  of 
such  a  mighty  ilhision. 

*  "  Essays  on  English  Literature."' 


142  THE   PUNISHMENT   OF    EVIL. 

But  the  truth  is,  man  has  a  vast  power  of  self-deception, 
he  has  ahvays  at  hand  a  variety  of  sophistries,  and  so  he 
persuades  himself  that  he  may  with  advantage  challenge 
Eternal  ^^'isdom,  Justice,  and  Power.  And  one  of  the 
causes  of  his  sad  blindness  is  found  in  his  misinterpretation 
of  those  pauses  which  occur  in  the  government  of  God. 
"Because  sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not  executed 
speedily,  therefore  the  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  fully  set 
in  them  to  do  evil."  Brethren,  let  us  not  thus  misconstrue 
the  order  of  events  and  the  delay  of  justice.  "  Deceive  not 
yourselves,  saying.  The  Chaldeans  shall  surely  depart  from 
us  :  for  they  shall  not  depart.  For  though  ye  had  smitten 
the  whole  army  of  the  Chaldeans,  ...  yet  should  they 
rise  up  every  man  in  his  tent,  and  burn  this  city  with  fire." 
Final  success  in  evil  is  impossible.  In  contending  with 
God  we  are  plotting  against  a  Wisdom  that  seems  some- 
times to  hesitate  and  fail ;  but  never  is  that  Wisdom  more 
profound  than  in  the  moments  of  seeming  perplexity,  and 
if  we  yield  to  flattering  hopes  of  victory,  our  final  overthrow 
will  only  be  the  more  complete  and  irreparable  for  these 
protractions  of  the  conflict.  In  contending  with  God  we 
are  warring  with  a  Power  that  ever  and  anon  seems 
baflled  and  beaten  ;  it  seems  to  retreat,  it  allows  us  to  win 
skirmishes  here  and  there — only  the  more  conspicuously 
to  crush  us  in  the  decisive  battle,  if  we  persist  to  fight  it 
out  to  the  bitter  end.  In  contending  with  God  we  are 
provoking  a  Justice  which  sometimes  seems  incapable  of 
asserting  itself;  but  inveterate  perversity  discovers  in  the 
event  that  all  such  hesitations  and  delays  were  the  whet- 
tings  of  a  sword  which  needs  not  to  smite  twice.  Slowly 
it  may  be,  but  surely,  do  we  ripen  for  judgment ;  and  when 
once  ripe,  how  little  a  thing  is  necessary  to  precipitate  the 


THE   rUxMISIIMENT   OF   EVIL.  143 

calamity  !  When  our  health  has  flillen  a-vay  to  a  certain 
point,  a  breath  of  bad  air  will  throw  us  into  a  fever,  the 
prick  of  a  pin  poison  our  blood,  a  sudden  emotion  stop 
our  heart  for  ever.  So  we  ripen  for  judgment,  and  when 
the  moment  comes,  which  God  only  knows,  the  sinner, 
apparently  triumphant,  falls  a  ready  victim  to  the  wounded 
man.  As  the  Hindoos  say,  "  When  men  are  ripe  for 
slaughter,  even  straws  turn  into  thunderbolts." 

4.  T.et  us  improve  tJie  gracious  respite.  How  different 
the  issue  would  have  been  if  Zedekiah  and  his  people 
had  listened  to  Jeremiah,  and  humbled  themselves  before 
God  for  their  unrighteousness  !  We  too,  amid  deserved 
judgments,  are  granted  kind  reprieves ;  let  us  heartily  avail 
ourselves  of  them.  INIany  rebel  altogether  against  the 
doctrine  of  grace^  sternly  insisting  on  inexorable  law, 
justice,  retribution ;  they  utterly  reprobate  the  ideas  of 
repentance,  forgiveness,  and  salvation.  But  mercy  is  a 
fact  as  much  as  justice  is.  Within  that  great  system  of 
severities  we  call  nature  there  are  ameliorative  arrange- 
ments softening  the  rigours  of  broken  law ;  in  human  life 
and  government,  too,  which  is  nature  still,  only  on  a 
higher  plane,  mercy  and  forgiveness  assert  themselves,  and 
society  greatly  prizes  the  gracious  quality  ;  and  it  is  there- 
fore a  mistake,  judged  by  the  light  of  nature,  to  make  an 
antithesis  of  equity  and  grace,  as  if  these  qualities  were 
mutually  antagonistic  and  eternally  irreconcilable — they 
l)oth  exist  side  by  side  in  this  tangible  human  world  with 
which  we  are  so  familiar.  Now,  the  grand  burden  of  the 
Gospel  is  to  bring  into  fullest  light  that  doctrine  of  mercy 
hinted  by  nature,  and  to  show  us  that  grace  is  not  arbi- 
trariness, the  negation  of  law,  the  neglect  of  justice,  but 
that   the   fullest    and    most    splendid  revelation    of  grace 


144  THE    PUNISHMENT   OF   EVIL. 

may  take  place  on  the  basis  of  eternal  truth  and  justice. 
^Ulchelet  calls  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  "  the  Marseilles 
Hymn  of  the  Gospel  of  Grace,  the  utter  setting  at  nought 
of  the  Law."  ^  But  this  is  strangely  to  misunderstand  the 
significance  of  that  glorious  Epistle.  It  was  no  part  of 
Paul's  purpose  to  set  at  nought  the  law,  or  to  extol  an 
arbitrary  grace,  but  exultingly  to  show  the  compatibility  of 
law  and  grace,  and  to  point  out  how  the  death  of  Christ 
was  the  supreme  illustration  of  both.  "That  He  might 
be  just,  and  the  Justifier  of  the  ungodly."  The  problem 
suggested  by  nature  is  solved  in  Christ  crucified,  and  the 
subUme  solution  is  declared  at  large  in  the  Marseilles 
Hymn  of  the  Gospel,  the  Epistle  to  tlie  Romans ;  it  is  a 
song  of  revolt,  of  liberty,  of  glory  ;  of  revolt  from  the 
tyranny  of  lust,  of  liberty  through  the  keeping  of  the  law, 
of  glory  as  it  gives  peace  and  immortality  through 
righteousness. 

The  great  reason  why  these  thinkers  are  so  bitterly 
opposed  to  the  doctrine  of  grace  is,  that  it  is  supposed  to 
encourage  men  to  sin  by  opening  to  them  a  door  of  escape. 
That  men  may  turn  the  grace  of  God  into  lasciviousness 
lias  been  acknowledged  by  Christianity  from  the  beginning, 
but  the  denial  of  that  grace  would  multiply  sin  infinitely. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  believe  that  insistence  on  the  inexorable- 
ness  of  justice  is  necessary  to  the  maintenance  of  virtue; 
such  insistence  would  mean  only  hopelessness  and  despair. 
Denying  men  space  for  repentance,  denying  the  grace 
which  softens  the  heart,  denying  the  possibility  of  mercy 
and  forgiveness,  shutting  the  race  up  to  legality  and  retri- 
bution, simply  means  universal  remorse  and  desperation. 
The  death  of  Calvary  is  the  most  solemn  and  tremendous 
»  "^Bible  of  Humanity." 


THE   PUNISHMENT   OF   EVIL.  14^ 

sanction  ever  given  to  law,  and  yet  it  opens  a  door  of 
escape  to  a  world  of  sinners.  There  is  forgiveness  with 
Him,  and  plenteous  redemption.  Accused  and  condemned 
by  the  law,  let  us  seek  that  mercy,  claim  that  forgiveness, 
enter  into  that  liberty,  and  in  the  day  of  doom  we  shall  be 
hidden  in  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  Iligli. 


L— 14 


THE  CONSCIOUSNESS  OF  EVIL. 


THE  CONSCIOUSNESS  OF  EVIL. 

"  Therefore  by  the  deeds  of  the  law  there  shall  no  flesh  be  juj^tified 
in  His  sight :  for  by  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin." — RoM.  iii.  20, 

Here  the  Apostle  speaks  of  the  fundamental  evil,  sin,  and 
of  its  emergence  in  our  consciousness.     Let  us  notice — 

I.  The  in  strum  cut  of  conviction.  "By  the  law."  \\'e 
cannot  be  justified  in  the  sight  of  God  by  the  law;  we  are 
convicted  and  condemned  by  it.  The  ceremonial  portion 
of  the  Mosaic  law  concerned  the  temple  and  its  service  ; 
it  was  the  law  of  the  priesthood.  The  judicial  section 
comprised  the  law  of  the  magistrate.  The  moral  law,  the 
highest  law  of  all,  is  the  rule  of  man's  spirit  in  the  sight  of 
God,  and  this  is  the  instrument  of  conviction  spoken  of  in 
the  text.  Do  you  ask  for  a  summary  of  this  law?  You 
have  it  in  the  ten  commandments  of  Sinai.  Do  you  ask 
for  an  exposition  of  it?  Revelation  at  large  is  its  para- 
phrase. Do  you  ask  for  an  example  of  it?  You  have  the 
supreme  example  in  Jesus  Christ.  The  law  of  which  our 
text  speaks  is  the  law  of  inward  truth,  love,  justice,  purity, 
peace,  and  this  is  the  instrument  whose  fierce  light  con- 
vinces the  world  of  sin,  righteousness,  and  judgment. 
Judging  ourselves  by  social  standards  only,  we  convict 
ourselves   of  imprudence,  impropriety,  folly,  but   the   law 


150  THE   CONSCIOUSNESS   OF   EVIL. 

of  spiritual  righteousness  reveals   the  plague  of  our  own 
heart. 

Some  are  disposed  to  think  lightly  of  the  law  given  by 
Moses — it  is  quite  the  fashion  to  do  so  now;  it  is  con- 
sidered elementary,  crude,  inadequate.  But  is  the  law  thus 
superficial,  coarse,  insufficient,  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus 
Christ  ?  The  Master  knew  the  law  in  its  essence^  and  we 
see  that  in  His  life  it  is  full  of  spirit  and  power.  All  the 
beatitudes  are  but  expositions  of  the  commandments,  and 
we  feel  that  they  reach  the  deep  seas  of  the  human  heart, 
showing  what  strange  and  unsuspected  life  is  stirring  down 
there.  The  New  Testament  reveals  the  law  as  requiring 
truth,  purity,  love,  equity,  in  the  inward  parts.  How  pro- 
found and  searching  is  the  commandment  when  urged  by 
our  Lord  !  Neither  is  the  law  of  Moses  felt  to  be  superficial 
and  inadequate  when  it  is  interpreted  to  the  conscience  by 
the  Spirit  of  God.  How  it  makes  bare  the  thoughts  and 
intents  of  the  heart !  Did  not  Paul  feel  it  to  be  the 
candle  of  the  Lord,  searching  his  spirit  and  convicting 
him  of  unrighteousness  on  a  thousand  points  where  he  had 
hitherto  regarded  himse'f  as  blameless  ?  Have  not  thousands 
in  all  generations  recognized,  when  the  Spirit  has  moved 
upon  their  heart,  the  revealing,  convicting,  condemning 
power  of  the  law,  as  the  Israelites  themselves  trembled  at 
its  proclamation  on  Sinai  ?  Keats  says,  "  Axioms  are  not 
axioms  until  they  have  been  proved  upon  our  pulses."  No  ; 
only  then  does  the  profound  meaning  of  the  simjDle  trite 
maxim  come  out ;  only  when  experience  has  brought  it 
home  to  us,  and  we  have  proved  it  in  our  conscience  or  in 
our  heart,  do  we  know  the  depth  of  thought,  of  truth,  of 
pathos,  in  the  familiar  proverbs  and  maxims  and  command- 
ments which  at  first  sight  seem  to  mean  so  little,     And  the 


THE  CONSCIOUSNESS  OF   EVIL.  151 

axioms  of  the  moral  law  are  not  axioms  to  us,  we  do  not 
appreciate  their  infinite  depth  and  significance,  until  the 
Spirit  of  God  has  proved  them  upon  our  wounded  con- 
science and  our  troubled  heart.  It  is  quite  possible  for 
men  to  have  this  law  in  their  knowledge  without  perceiving 
its  large  import,  possible  for  them  by  many  devices  to  make 
the  law  of  none  effect;  but  when  we  once  apprehend  its 
inwardness,  its  comprehensiveness,  its  reasonableness,  its 
graciousness,  we  feel  how  great  is  the  disharmony  and 
rebelliousness  of  our  heart  and  life,  and  receive  the  sentence 
of  death  within  ourselves.  The  words  of  Sinai  are  the 
expression  and  transcript  of  the  holiness  of  God,  rays  of  the 
eternal  Sun,  and  in  the  presence  of  that  perfection  we  are 
confounded.  "  I  have  heard  of  Thee  by  the  hearing  of  the 
ear:  but  now  mine  eye  seeth  Thee.  Wherefore  I  abhor 
myself,  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes." 

II.  The  consciousness  of  sin.  Without  the  du-ect  revela- 
tion contained  in  the  Bible,  man  has  a  knowledge  of  sin  j 
the  natural  conscience  does  its  office,  accusing  or  else 
excusing ;  and  there  is  a  direct  and  serious  recognition  of 
sin  in  all  the  religions  of  the  world.  Whatever  our  optimistic 
sceptics  may  make  of  it,  all  the  great  religions  of  the  world 
recognize  sin,  and  with  great  and  ingenious  elaboration 
seek  to  deliver  their  votaries  from  its  power  and  con- 
sequences. Pagan  literature  everywhere  acknowledges  the 
terrible  workings  of  sin  ;  pagan  religions  are  little  more 
than  an  attempt  to  get  rid  of  the  burden  of  sm.  Still  it 
remains  true,  that  only  by  the  moral  law  as  declared  in  the 
Christian  revelation  do  we  come  to  an  adequate  knowledge 
of  that  dark  something  which  tortures  our  heart  and  fills 
the  world  with  misery. 

I.  By  tlie  law  as  unfolded  in  revelation  we  discover  the 


153  THE   CONSCIOUSNESS   OF   EVIL. 

fad  of  sin.  It  appeals  to  our  conscience  and  makes  us  to 
know  sin  as  a  dire  reality.  "  I  was  alive  without  the  law 
once."  Paul  was  a  proud,  self-contained,  happy  man.  He 
lived  with  the  sense  of  personal  worth,  with  a  serene  mind, 
with  a  conviction  of  safety,  with  the  full  idea  that  nothing 
remained  to  him  but  satisfaction  and  glory.  He  was 
troubled  in  the  very  least  by  the  awful  problem  of  evil,  and 
felt  that  whatever  might  be  the  problem  of  evil  he  had 
personally  the  very  least  concern  in  it.  "  But  when  the 
commandment  came,  sin  revived,  and  I  died."  When  the 
law  came  home  to  him,  wlien  he  understood  its  spirituality 
and  far-reaching  claim,  the  sin  came  to  light ;  he  was  pain- 
fully conscious  of  an  element  separating  from  God  and 
vitiating  all  life ;  he  felt  himself  guilty,  wrctclied,  con- 
demned. 

Renan  has  recently  written,  "  It  may  be  said,  in  fact, 
that  original  sin  was  an  invention  of  the  Jahveist."  ^  What 
a  strange  misuse  of  language  to  speak  of  the  sacred  writers 
as  mvent'uig  original  sin  :  Can  we  say  that  Jenner  invented 
the  small-pox,  or  that  Pasteur  invented  the  rabies,  or  that 
any  of  the  celebrated  physicians  invented  the  maladies 
which  are  known  by  their  names?  What  these  famous 
men  did  was  to  successfully  diagnose,  characterize,  and 
treat  diseases  which  already  existed,  and  which  proved  their 
mali<ynant  power  by  carrying  thousands  of  men  and  women 
to  the  grave.  Did  the  sacred  writers  invent  sin  ?  Listen 
to  a  modern  writer  on  science  who  has  no  theological 
sympathy  whatever,  but  who  is  constrained  to  give  a 
testimony  to  a  theological  tenet  that  is  to  thousands  a 
huge  offence.  "  Men  are  born  with  their  moral  natures  as 
detbrmed  or  as  imperfect  as  their  physical  ones.  To  the 
*  f  History  of  the  People  of  Israel." 


THE  CONSCIOUSNESS  OF   EVIL.  1 53 

doctrine  of  original  sin  science  has  thus  given  an  unexpected 
support."  ^  No  ;  revelation  did  not  invent  the  doctrine  of 
original  sin ;  that  doctrine  serious  men  have  discerned  in 
all  ages,  that  doctrine  tlie  scientist  finds  deep  down  in  the 
grounds  of  human  nature.  What  revelation  has  done  is  to 
define  the  doctrine,  to  make  clear  its  real  nature,  to  express 
its  characters,  to  discover  its  source,  to  bring  it  home  to  the 
conscience,  and,  thank  God,  to  prescribe  for  it  a  sovereign 
remedy. 

The  law  showed  the  Apoitle  that  the  reality  of  sin  was 
in  his  own  heart,  that  it  lived  and  worked  there  beneath  all  y 
the  moral  aspects  of  his  character;  the  law  convinced 
him  that  his  conduct,  socially  and  ecclesiastically  blameless, 
was  nevertheless  essentially  false  and  hollow.  Says  George 
Sand,  "Proprieties  are  the  rule  of  people  without  soul  or 
virtue."  -  Says  Schopenhauer,  "  Politeness  is  a  conventional 
and  systematic  attempt  to  mask  the  egoism  of  human 
nature.  To  combine  politeness  with  pride  is  a  master- 
piece of  wisdom."  ■""  And,  indeed,  how  little  do  many  of 
those  grand  words  mean  which  are  on  our  lips?  What 
does  '-'good  form"  mean,  etiquette,  decorum,  breeding, 
''the  code  of  honour,"  respectability?  What  do  justice, 
temperance,  diligence,  benevolence,  and  other  of  our  virtues 
mean  if  they  are  severely  looked  into  ?  What  do  reputa- 
tion, fame,  success,  glory,  often  mean  ?  What  the  French- 
woman saw,  what  the  German  saw,  what  we  all  see  dimly 
from  time  to  time  of  the  hollowness  of  human  virtue,  the 
Apostle  in  presence  of  the  law  saw  and  felt  profoundly ;  he 
was  overwhelmed  to  find  under  all  the  proprieties  of  his 
life  the  fact  and  power  of  sin.     *'  We  all  do  fade  as  a  leaf." 

'  Nisl)et,  "Marriage  and  Heredity."  -  "Letters." 

'  "  Counsels  and  Maxims," 


154  THE   CONSCIOUSNESS   OF   EVIL. 

Before  the  searching  brightness  of  the  living  and  eternal 
righteousness  of  God  our  proud  virtues  wither,  for  they 
have  no  depth  of  earth,  no  fibre  of  reality,  no  sap  of  life. 
Studying  the  commandments  of  Sinai ;  pondering  the 
exposition  of  the  law  in  prophet,  psalmist,  and  apostle  ; 
listening  to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount ;  beholding  the 
beauty  of  the  Lord ;  we  become  conscious  how  deeply 
we  are  wrong  at  heart,  what  a  mysterious  weakness,  dis- 
harmony, perverseness  exists  within  us,  spoiling  our  great 
gifts  and  possibilities,  involving  our  life  in  constant  failure, 
filling  us  with  remorse  and  wretchedness.  In  the  Purgatory 
of  the  Chinese  is  the  Mirror  of  Sin.  Into  this  mirror 
departed  sinners  are  compelled  to  gaze  and  see  all  tlie 
naughtiness  of  their  own  heart,  after  which  they  are  dis- 
missed to  punishment.  The  moral  law  is  that  mirror, 
here  and  now  revealing  the  wickedness  and  deceitfulness  of 
our  heart.  One  of  our  novelists  Avrites  of  *'the  tragedy 
of  the  mirror."  The  mirror  has  its  tragedies.  It  makes 
palpable  to  us  the  ravages  of  grief;  it  pathetically  discloses 
the  lines  of  suffering ;  with  cruel  literalness  it  shows  the 
aged  the  sad  work  of  decay's  effacing  fingers  ;  but  the  real 
tragedy  of  the  mirror  is  when  revelation  sharply  frees  us 
from  all  illusions,  and  from  its  infinite  depths  of  purity 
flashes  back  upon  our  consciousness  the  image  of  our  moral 
self — the  image  of  leprosy. 

2.  By  the  law  as  unfolded  in  revelation  we  discover  the 
iiatiire  of  sin.  It  discloses  the  real  character  of  that  dark 
mysterious  power  which  forbids  our  perfection  and  felicity. 
Serious  souls  in  all  ages  have  felt  the  reality,  the  odiousness, 
the  ominousness  of  sin,  but  they  found  themselves  unable 
to  determine  wherein  lay  its  real  origin  and  essence.  The 
mystery  of  iniquity  was  hid  for  ages,  baffling  philosophers, 


THE   CONSCIOUSNESS   OF  EVIL.  1 55 

seers,  saints.  In  the  light  of  the  New  Testament  this 
mystery  is  solved.  Recent  science  has  enabled  us  to  solve 
enigmas  of  the  physical  universe  which  once  seemed  for 
ever  impenetrable.  Cholera  has  been,  for  example,  through 
long  ages  "  a  pestilence  walking  in  darkness."  There  was 
no  denying  the  plague,  it  demonstrated  itself  in  the  most 
awful  manner,  but  none  could  divine  its  active  principle, 
the  secret  of  its  power.  But  at  last  the  cholera-germ  has 
been  tracked  out,  and  the  fatal  pest  never  before  seen  by 
human  eyes  can  now  be  studied  under  a  powerful  micro- 
scope, large  as  the  human  hand.  The  immense  significance 
of  this  discovery  to  our  race  who  may  say  ?  For  ages  sin 
has  been  pre-eminently  the  pestilence  walking  in  darkness, 
the  destruction  wasting  at  noonday,  and  the  world  has 
stood  aghast  before  the  obscure  and  terrible  destroyer ;  but 
the  glass  of  revelation  in  the  hand  of  Jesus  Christ  has 
shown  large  and  vivid  the  fatal  principle  which  has  tainted 
and  decimated  the  race. 

And  what,  then,  is  sin  ?  what  is  the  secret  nature  of  that 
worst  of  all  plagues,  the  plague  of  our  own  heart  ?  Sin,  as 
against  God,  is  the  preference  of  our  own  will  to  the 
Supreme  Will.  "  I  had  not  known  sin  except  the  law  had 
said,  Thou  shalt  not  covet."  Sin  is  not  limitation  ;  we 
act  irregularly,  not  because  we  are  so  much  less  than  God, 
but  because  we  are  contrary  to  God.  That  sin  is  only  a 
lesser  degree  of  holiness,  that  it  is  but  the  imperfect  effort 
of  a  beginner  as  compared  with  the  absolute  and  eternal 
perfection  of  God,  cannot  be  maintained  in  the  face  of 
revelation.  The  consciousness  of  sin  arises  in  us  because 
we  will  act  on  our  own  lines,  not  on  the  lines  of  God,  com- 
pendiously called  righteousness.  Sin,  as  against  society,  is 
the  exaggeration  of  our  own  personal  rights  to  the  prejudice 


156  THE   CONSCIOUSNESS   OF   EVIL. 

of  our  neighbour.  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thy- 
self." It  is  reasonable  to  resi)ect  ourselves,  and  such  self- 
respect  is  to  be  the  standard  of  our  conduct  in  dealing  with 
others.  It  is  sin  to  push  our  personal  interests  and 
pleasures  to  the  violation  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  our 
brother  ;  to  secure  our  personal  gratification  at  the  expense 
of  society.  Sin,  as  against  ourselves,  is  the  preference  of  our 
lower  to  our  higher  nature.  To  do  justice  to  our  physical 
and  sensuous  nature  is  our  bounden  duty,  but  to  sacrifice 
moral  truth  and  bcc^uty  to  animal  sensibiUties  is  sin.  Sin 
is  primarily  and  essentially  ungodliness;  then  it  is  un- 
sociableness  and  lasciviousness.  Thus  the  moral  command- 
ment brings  home  to  our  conscience  a  distinct  indictment. 
The  consciousness  of  sin  is  no  longer  a  vague  terror ;  we 
know  wherein  we  are  guilty.  "  It  seemeth  to  me  unreason- 
able to  send  a  prisoner,  and  not  withal  to  signify  the  crimes 
laid  against  him."  In  the  law  is  the  handwriting  that  is 
against  us.  We  are  charged  with  setting  our  will  against 
the  will  of  the  world's  Creator  and  Lord,  with  lusting  after 
and  eating  fruit  forbidden  by  eternal  wisdom  and  love.  We 
are  charged  with  a  miserable  egotism  that  has  blinded  us  to 
our  brother's  right,  and  caused  us  to  violate  his  property, 
liberty,  reputation,  happiness.  We  are  charged  witli  sub- 
ordinating our  spiritual  self  to  our  physical  desires ;  being 
in  honour  and  understanding  not,  we  have  become  like 
the  beasts  which  perish. 

3.  By  the  law  as  unfolded  in  revelation  we  discover  the 
strength  of  sin.  The  presence  of  the  law  brings  out  the 
virulence  and  wrath  of  the  evil  principle  which  is  in  our 
lieart.  "When  the  commandment  came,  sin  revived." 
"The  strength  of  sin  is  the  law."  The  presence  of  the 
lofty,  the  pure,  the  beautiful,  in  the  first  instance  evokes, 


THE   CONSCIOUSNESS    OF   EVIL.  I  57 

Stirs  up,  draws  out,  the  morbid  humours  of  the  soul ;  the 
fierce  Hght  stimulates  the  vicious  germs  which  are  in  us. 

Here  is  the  explanation  of  the  strange  influence  which 
specially  glorious  scenery  often  exercises  over  men.  That 
scenery  seems  to  stimulate  in  them  morbid  elements  which 
less  splendid  skies  and  landscapes  leave  latent.  The  glory 
of  the  outside  world  brings  out  the  profound  discontents  of 
the  heart.  The  purity,  the  grandeur,  the  harmony  of  nature 
make  active  and  palpable  the  internal  disorder  of  our 
humanity,  working  evil  in  us  by  that  which  is  good.  Victor 
Hugo  has  a  remarkable  passage  on  this  subject.  He  has 
been  speaking  of  two  distinguished  Frenchmen  who  had 
wealth,  greatness,  dignity,  health,  intelligence,  and  who, 
to  the  surprise  of  everybody,  committed  suicide  at  Naples. 
"  Is  it  the  climate  ?  Is  it  the  marvellous  sky  ?  As  the  life 
of  even  the  most  prosperous  man  is  always  in  reality  more 
sad  than  gay,  a  gloomy  sky  is  in  harmony  with  ourselves.  A 
brilliant  and  joyous  sky  mocks  us.  Nature  in  its  sad 
aspects  resembles  us  and  consoles  us  ;  nature,  when  radiant, 
impassive,  serene,  magnificent,  transplendent,  young,  while 
we  grow  old,  smiling  when  we  are  sighing,  superb,  inacces- 
sible, eternal,  contented,  calm  in  its  joyousness,  has  in  it 
something  oppressive."  ^  It  weighs  upon  us,  it  irritates  us, 
it  drives  us  to  despair.  Nature  is  a  system  of  glorious  law, 
and  its  action  reveals  the  vanity,  weakness,  disorder,  and 
despair  of  the  world  within  us.  The  great  poet  just  quoted 
says,  "The  blue  sky  engenders  spleen,"  but  that  hardly 
explains  all ;  let  us  say  the  spectacle  of  the  glorious  world 
makes  us  sad  because  that  spectacle  is  not  repeated  within, 
and  the  presence  of  such  law  and  loveliness  malics  us 
bitterly  conscious  of  the  chaos  of  the  soul. 

'    *'  "I'liings  Seen.'' 


15^  THE  CONSCIOUSNESS  OF   EVIL. 

That  the  presence  of  the  lofty  and  noble  calls  out  into 
special  activity  the  baser  qualities  of  our  nature  is  seen  in 
the  influence  that  intellectual  and  artistic  excellence  often 
exert.  Ruskin  says,  "  No  peoi)le  has  ever  attained  the 
higher  stages  of  art  skill  except  at  a  period  of  its  civilization 
which  was  sullied  by  frequent,  violent,  and  even  monstrous 
crime."  ^  And  he  accounts  for  this  on  the  ground  that  the 
good  and  the  beautiful  are  developed  to  their  highest  by 
contention  with  evil.  However  true  this  explanation  may 
be,  is  it  not  also  true  that  the  bad  and  the  ugly  are  de- 
veloped to  their  highest  by  contention  with  good?  The 
exceptional  and  terrible  wickedness  of  the  Renaissance, 
its  incest,  treason,  rapine,  assassinations,  fratricides,  its 
black  and  horrible  crimes,  was  a  sardonic  protest  against 
the  vision  of  beauty  then  granted  to  men,  a  resurgence  and 
revolt  against  the  higher  perfection  and  harmony  then 
expressed  in  music,  painting,  statuary,  literature,  and  build- 
ing.    Evil  worked  by  that  which  was  good. 

Our  text  declares  that  the  presence  of  the  moral  law 
thus,  in  an  eminent  degree,  calls  out  the  potential  wickedness 
of  the  heart.  As  the  splendour  of  nature  revives  in  us  the 
sense  of  vanity  and  despair,  as  the  glories  of  art  create 
a  reaction  toward  lawlessness  and  infamy,  so  the  presence 
of  transcendent  moral  excellence  kindles  irregular  passion 
and  desire.  This  is  the  explanation  of  the  outbursts  of 
profound  wickedness  in  Israel ;  in  their  reactions  from  the 
noble  moral  S}'stem  committed  to  them,  the  elect  people 
became  worse  than  the  heathen.  This  is  the  explanation 
also  of  the  singular  and  conspicuous  power  of  wickedness 
displayed  in  the  days  of  our  Tord.  The  presence  of  One 
who  was  truth,  beauty,  love,  righteousness,  irritated  and 
*  "  Lectures  on  Art." 


TliE  CONSCIOUSNESS  OF   EVIL.  1^9 

developed  the  mighty  force  of  wickedness  in  the  national 
heart;  the  epoch  of  the  Advent  was  the  epoch  of  diabolism, 
it  was  the  hour  and  the  power  of  darkness.  And  history 
shows  that  this  has  ever  been  the  case ;  that  any  extra- 
ordinary manifestation  of  moral  power  and  beauty  has 
provoked  displays  of  sin,  unique  in  cruelty,  irrationality, 
selfishness,  degradation.  "  Wherefore  the  law  is  holy,  and 
the  commandment  holy,  and  just,  and  good."  And  yet  it 
exasperates  the  soul,  inflames  it,  sets  it  in  an  attitude  of 
guilty  defiance.  "  But  sin,  that  it  might  appear  sin,  working 
death  by  that  which  is  good  ;  that  sin  by  the  commandment 
might  become  exceeding  sinful."  We  do  not  know  the 
power  of  indwelling  sin  until  we  awake  to  righteousness, 
and  seek  to  fulfil  that  righteousness.  We  do  not  know  the 
force  of  a  stream  until  we  attempt  to  dam  it,  or  to  swim 
against  it ;  and  we  never  know  the  force  of  the  dark  stream 
of  passion,  issuing  from  the  great  deep  of  our  heart  and 
sweeping  through  our  life,  until  the  law  summons  us  to 
breast  it ;  then  we  know  what  sin  means,  as  it  lifts  up  its 
angry  waves  and  bears  us  onward  to  the  gulf,  mocking  our 
agonizing  attempts  to  stem  it. 

4.  By  the  law  as  unfolded  in  revelation  we  discover  the 
^iiilt  of  sin.  It  is  the  ministry  of  condemnation ;  it  con- 
vinces us  that  our  transgressions  are  worthy  of  death. 
^Vith  the  law  before  us  we  cannot  plead  that  sin  is  ignorance. 
Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law,  but  we  should  think 
mercifully  of  sin  committed  in  total  ignorance  of  the  law. 
But  the  law  which  convicts  us,  first  enlightens  us  ;  we  clearly 
see  our  duly  and  yet  persist  in  carrying  out  our  own  desires. 
With  the  law  before  us  we  cannot  plead  that  sin  is  im- 
perfection. It  is  now  seen  that  sin  is  not  finiteness,  but 
contradictoriness ;  it  is  a  conflict  of  wills.     With  the  law 


l6o  THE   CONSCIOUSNESS   OF   EVIL. 

before  us  we  cannot  plead  that  sin  is  misfortune.  By  the 
deepest  of  instincts  we  discern  the  vast  difftrence  between 
a  misfortune  and  a  sin.  The  man  who  is  overtaken  by 
bhndness,  crippled  by  rheumatism,  prostrated  by  paralysis, 
mutilated  by  a  collision  or  an  explosion,  we  pity  and  console  ] 
but  we  blame  and  punish  theft,  libel,  insobriety,  violence. 
By  the  commandments  are  we  forewarned,  and  we  know 
that  in  the  keeping  of  them  is  great  reward;  after  such 
warning  and  enlightenment  we  cannot  rank  sins  with 
accidents  and  misfortunes.  With  the  law  before  us  we 
cannot  plead  that  sin  is  fate.  Just  as  the  laws  of  nature 
work  out  eclipses,  volcanoes,  earthquakes,  storms,  hurricanes, 
blizzards,  so  the  same  laws,  we  are  told,  work  out  in  human 
nature  tempers,  lusts,  conceits,  which  war  against  the  law 
of  the  mind.  But  with  the  highest  law  of  God  before  us 
we  cannot  believe  this.  Sin  is  seen  to  be  no  part  of 
the  divine  order,  no  necessary  disagreeable  factor  in  the 
education  of  the  individual  or  the  race ;  the  voice  of  Sinai 
repudiates  it  absolutely,  declares  it  to  be  altogether  un- 
natural, subversive,  diabolical,  and  accursed.  The  law 
given  by  Moses  is  a  right  royal  law,  just  and  gracious, 
practicable,  and  to  violate  it  is  to  involve  our  soul  in 
infinite  guilt  and  condemnation,  is  to  count  ourselves 
unworthy  of  everlasting  life. 

And  the  law  brings  sin  and  guilt  home  to  us  personally. 
It  does  not  impeach  and  condemn  a  race,  so  much  as  it 
challenges  the  man,  the  woman,  the  child.  We  often  say 
that  "a  corporation  has  no  soul  to  damn,"  which  saying 
roughly  expresses  our  practical  perception  of  the  fact  that 
responsibility  inheres  in  the  individual.  The  copious  use 
of  tlie  personal  pronoun  by  the  Apostle  in  the  famous 
seventh  chapter  of  the  Romans  is  not  without  its  deep 


Tllii  CONSCIOUSNESS  OF   EVIL.  l6l 

significance.  It  is  full  of  ''  I's."  "  I  had  not  known  sin  ; " 
'*  I  was  alive  without  the  law ;  "  ''I  died 3 "  ''  O  wretched 
man  that  I  am;"  "I  thank  God  through  Jesus  Christ." 
Twenty  more  "I's"  sprinkle  the  page  which  reveals  the 
working  of  the  law  on  the  conscience  and  heart.  Now,  the 
Apostle  does  not  thus  keep  close  to  his  own  personality 
for  any  rhetorical  or  logical  reason;  he  felt  the  personal 
bearing  of  the  law,  that  it  concerned  him  in  the  presence  of 
God,  and  he  simply  gave  vivid  expression  to  this  most 
solemn  and  essential  truth.  We  are  all  ready  enough  with 
the  "  I "  of  a  miserable  consuming  egotism ;  grand  thing 
it  is  A\  hen  our  heart  and  mouth  are  full  of  the  "  I,"  "  me," 
"  my,"  of  a  deep  and  blessed  penitence.  Then  we  no 
longer  impute  our  wickedness  to  cosmic  causes,  to  social 
environment,  to  hereditary  influence,  but  confess  that  the 
burden  and  shame  are  our  own.  "  Then  shall  ye  remember 
your  own  evil  ways,  and  your  doings  that  were  not  good, 
and  shall  loathe  yourselves  in  your  own  sight  for  your 
iniquities  and  for  your  abominations."     In  conclusion — 

(i)  A  word  to  f/wse  wJio  have  710  proper  consciousness  of 
sin.  Some  of  us  have  little  consciousness  of  sin.  We  have 
writers  who  treat  the  question  of  sin  with  levity ;  and  many 
who  worship  in  our  sanctuaries,  and  who  often  have  the 
claims  of  spiritual  righteousness  enforced  upon  them,  do 
not  lay  their  sinfulness  to  heart.  But  we  must  remember 
that  a  faint  consciousness  of  sin  is  no  sign  of  comparative 
innocence.  Sin  usually  brings  with  it  a  certain  bhndness, 
dulness,  indifference,  and  the  very  worst  sinners  are  often 
least  conscious  of  sin.  One  of  the  most  astonishing  things 
in  prison-life  is  said  to  be  the  deficiency  of  conscience  iri 
criminals.  Scenes  of  heart-rending  despair  are  rarely 
witnessed  timongst  them,     Their   sleep  is   broken  by  no 

M — 14 


l62  THE   CONSCIOUSNESS   OF   EVIL. 

uneasy  dreams ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  easy  and  sound  : 
they  have  also  excellent  appetites.  They  have  a  sense 
of  self-righteousness,  and  feel,  on  the  whole,  that  they  have 
been  wronged.  Recently  the  newspaper  told  us  of  the 
execution  of  a  gravedigger  upon  the  Continent,  who  had 
been  convicted  of  four  murders,  five  robberies,  eight  cases 
of  incendiarism,  and  other  crimes.  AVhen  he  was  informed 
that  he  would  be  hanged  early  next  morning,  he  said  that 
he  deserved  his  fate,  but  he  assured  his  judge  that  worse 
fellows  than  he  were  running  about  the  world.  No,  not 
within  prison-walls  does  the  conscience  assert  itself  and  fill 
the  convict  with  overwhelming  distress  and  shame.  The 
restlessness,  the  wakefulness,  the  agony  of  a  troubled  con  - 
science,  are  known  outside  by  little  children,  by  pure 
women,  by  high-minded  men  whose  faults  are  comparatively 
venial.  To  have  no  consciousness  of  sin,  no  proper  con- 
sciousness of  it,  is  no  proof  of  our  integrity ;  much  more 
likely  is  it  a  proof  that  our  conscience  has  become 
benumbed  and  indurated  by  years  of  worldliness  and  dis- 
obedience. 

We  must  come  to  the  light  that  we  may  be  reproved. 
We  must  test  ourselves  by  the  standard  of  Sinai ;  we  must 
try  our  heart  and  life  by  the  terrible  beauty  and  spirituality 
of  the  sayings  of  the  Mount ;  we  must  submit  ourselves  to 
the  white  light  which  shines  upon  us  and  into  us  in  the 
perfection  of  Jesus  Christ.  If  we  can  bear  all  this  un- 
troubled, we  are  innocent  indeed.  But  we  cannot  bear  it ; 
none  of  us  can  bear  it.  When  the  law  is  interpreted  to  our 
conscience  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  our  braveries  of  self- 
righteousness  are  gone,  and  we  feel  the  sentence  of  death 
within  ourselves.  Before  the  law  came  home  we  had  an 
imperfect  and  vague  perception  of  sin,  but  now  we  know 


THE  CONSCIOUSNESS  OF   EVIL.  163 

what  sin  means.  We  know  that  we  are  sinful ;  not  only 
that  we  have  committed  sins,  but  that  the  powers  and 
passions  and  desires  of  our  nature  are  themselves  depraved. 
A\'e  know  that  sin  is  not  so  much  in  the  outward  act  as  in 
the  thought  and  disposition.  We  know  that  sin  not  only 
provokes  vengeance,  but  the  intrinsic  sinfulness  of  sin  is 
recognized  by  us.  We  know  that  sin  is  not  a  certain 
injustice  to  society  merely,  but  chiefly  a  dire  offence  against 
God.  We  know  that  sin  is  a  fact  not  to  be  easily  atoned 
for,  that  it  is  a  stain  not  to  be  washed  out  even  with  our 
tears  and  blood.  In  us,  and  in  all  men,  there  is  by  nature 
a  brooding  consciousness  of  sin,  but  it  is  only  when  the 
Holy  Spirit  takes  the  law  and  flashes  its  spiritual  meaning 
into  our  heart  that  we  gain  the  proper  notion  of  sin ;  that, 
in  a  word,  we  see  sin  as  God  sees  it.  "Search  me,  O  God, 
and  know  my  heart :  try  me,  and  know  my  thoughts  :  and 
see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in  the 
way  everlasting." 

(2)  We  must  remember  that  tJie  la-iv  does  not  give  us 
deliverance  froin  sin.  Discovering  our  moral  deficiency  and 
defilement,  the  law  does  not  make  us  perfect.  Some  time 
ago  one  of  the  magistrates  at  Clerkenwell  hit  on  a  new  idea 
in  dealing  \vith  a  prisoner,  who  came  before  him  on  a  charge 
of  being  drunk  and  incapable.  The  man's  face  was  terribly 
bruised,  either  from  tumbling  about  while  drunk,  or  fighting. 
The  case  having  been  proved,  the  magistrate  inquired  of 
the  chief  gaoler  for  a  looking-glass.  One  having  been  pro- 
duced, the  gaoler  was  ordered  to  take  the  prisoner  and 
show  him  his  face  in  the  glass,  and  then  to  liberate  him ; 
the  magistrate  remarking  that  if  that  exhibition  was  not  a 
warning  to  him,  he  did  not  know  what  would  be.  The 
prisoner  was  accordingly  shown  the  reflection  of  his  dis- 


164  THE  CONSCIOUSNESS   OF  EVIL. 

IiLjured  face,  and  discharged.  Tlicrc  was  sound  philubOpIiy 
in  the  novel  method  of  the  magistrate,  it  Avas  good  and 
true  as  far  as  it  went ;  but  it  may  well  be  doubted  if  the 
generous  device  effected  any  very  considerable  reformation 
in  the  prisoner;  much  more  being  necessary  to  n/akc  a 
man  what  he  ought  to  be,  than  the  frank  vision  of  what  he 
is.  We  often  entertain  exaggerated  notions  of  the  necessary 
result  of  seeing  ourselves  as  we  are.  The  boast  of  the 
theatre  is  that  it  holds  up  the  mirror  to  human  nature ;  but 
most  people  know  that  this  self-revelation  has  little  moralizing 
effect.  In  fiction  the  reader  is  called  upon  to  contemplate 
the  strange  sad  workings  of  his  own  heart ;  but  the  con- 
sequence of  all  such  studies  is  little  more  than  transient 
agitation  of  feeling.  In  the  sanctuary  men  often  start  at 
their  own  image ;  but,  if  they  stop  short  with  the  alarming 
vision,  the  practical  advantage  is  small.  Conviction  of  sin 
is  not  regeneration.  Sometimes  the  self-revelation  pro- 
duces hatred  of  the  law.  I  dare  say,  if  the  prisoner  at 
Clerkenwell  had  given  free  expression  to  his  feelings,  he 
would  have  smashed  the  mirror ;  and  men  in  all  ages,  often 
in  strange  ways,  have  vented  their  wrath  upon  the  man,  the 
system,  the  book,  which  brought  them  self-acquaintance. 
Sometimes  self-revelation  is  a  painful  lightning-flash,  soon 
forgotten.  We  see  "  the  face  of  our  birth  "  in  the  glass, 
and  going  our  way  straightway  forget  what  manner  of  man 
we  are.  .Sometimes  this  self-revelation  is  followed  by 
cynicism  and  despair. 

"  I  had  most  need  of  Ijlessing,  and  amen 
Stuck  in  my  throat." 

Never  does  the  action  of  the  law  purify  us  from  the  morbid 
elements  it  reveals.  The  law  makes  nothing  perfect,  but 
alike  with  the  individual  and  the  race  it  serves  to  bring  in 
a  better  hope. 


THE  CONSCIOUSNESS  OF   EVIL.  1 65 

(3)  The  redemption  of  our  life  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  Christ 
turns  the  knowledge  of  sin  into  true  sorrow  for  sin.  So  far 
as  the  operation  of  the  law  is  concerned,  the  knowledge  of 
sin  may  end,  as  we  have  seen,  in  anger,  remorse,  cynicism, 
or  despair  :•  but  Christ  changes  the  sorrow  that  is  unto  death 
into  a  diviner  grief,  whose  issue  is  eternal  life.  Christ 
shows  us  most  emphatically  that  it  is  not  severity  that  we 
have  been  resisting,  not  might,  but  love  infinitely  great  and 
tender^' "  What  makes  the  tears  stream  down  the  cheeks  of 
the  prodigal,  but  that  he  remembers  a  father's  goodness,  a 
mother's  love?  What  makes  the  hard,  proud  husband  go 
meekly  to  his  wife's  grave  and  strew  it  with  tear-sprinkled 
flowers,  but  the  fact  that  he  has  understood  at  last  her 
unrequited  kindness?  And  so  the  true  sorrow  for  sin  is 
created  by  the  vision  of  the  beauty  and  love  of  God,  and 
this  vision  is  given  by  Christ.  Christ  also  awakens  in  us 
the  love  of  holiness.  "  By  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin." 
Yes,  the  law  as  given  by  Moses  is  altogether  concerned 
with  sin ;  it  defines  sin,  it  addresses  sinners,  its  design  is  to 
convince  and  condemn.  In  certain  places  we  see  regula- 
tions like  these  placarded  :  "  No  smoking  allowed,"  '•'■  No 
betting  allowed,"  "  No  swearing  allowed ; "  and  we  perceive 
at  once  the  kind  of  place  we  are  in,  and  the  kind  of  people 
who  usually  frequent  them — that  is  sufficiently  clear  from 
the  prohibitory  legislation.  We  never  think  of  putting  up 
such  regulations  in  a  temple.  So  the  commandments  of 
Moses  assume  this  to  be  a  sinful  world  ;  they  are  addressed 
to  sinners;  there  is  in  them  the  idiom  of  impeachment 
and  condemnation.  But  by  Christ  is  the  knowledge  of 
goodness ;  by  Him  came  grace  and  truth ;  it  was  His  high 
and  holy  vocation  in  a  very  special  sense  to  reveal  to  the 
world  the  charm,  the  splendour,  the  infinite  sweetness  and 


lO:)  THE   CONSCIOUSNESS   OF   EVIL. 

majesty  of  goodness,  and  to  beget  in  the  human  heart  a 
supreme  passion  for  the  beauty  of  hohness.  Christ  also 
satisfies  the  law,  making  it  honourable,  and  yet  strengtlien- 
ing  us  to  fulfil  all  its  conditions.  We  have  redemption  in 
His  blood,  even  the  forgiveness  of  sin.  The  law  leaves  us 
with  a  burden  of  condemnation,  but  in  Christ  the  divine 
assurance  is  writ  large  :  "  I  have  blotted  out,  as  a  thick 
cloud,  thy  trangressions,  and,  as  a  cloud,  thy  sins :  return 
unto  Me;  for  I  have  redeemed  thee."  And  He  fills- the 
penitent  heart  with  saving  cleansing  power.  The  law  is 
a  revealing  mirror  ;  Christ  is  a  transforming,  transfiguring 
mirror. 

How  infinite  our  debt  to  Jesus  Christ !  It  is  a  common 
charge  against  Christianity  by  a  certain  class  of  writers,  that 
it  has  darkened  the  world.  They  tell  us  of  the  Greeks,  ''  a 
people  who  counted  their  years  by  their  games,"  and  they 
are  full  of  regret  that  the  Christian  faith  prevailed,  banish- 
ing the  song,  the  sunshine,  the  sparkle  of  Grecian  genius 
and  life.  But  are  we  not  infinitely  the  debtors  of  Jesus 
Christ  for  substituting  the  troubles  of  the  conscience  for 
the  serene  harmony  of  Grecian  wisdom,  the  light  laughter 
of  Grecian  joyousness  ?  Has  not  Christ  by  awakening  the 
conscience  disciplined  human  nature,  and  enriched  it  beyond 
all  expression  ?  Has  He  not  made  it  unspeakably  more 
strong  and  profound,  a  nobler  thing  altogether  ?  Paul  says, 
*'  I  was  aUve  without  the  law  once."  Again  he  writes,  "  For 
I  through  the  law  am  dead  to  the  law,  that  I  might  live 
unto  God.  I  am  crucified  with  Christ :  nevertheless  I  live ; 
yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me  :  and  the  life  which  I  now 
live  in  the  flesh  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who 
loved  me,  and  gave  Himself  for  me."  What  an  infinite 
difference  there  was  between  those  two  lives!     The  first 


'illE   CONSCIOUSNESS   OF    KML.  lu/ 

a  life  of  petty  thoughts,  of  narrow  sympathies,  of  disguised 
selfisliness,  of  ignoble  aims  and  satisfactions,  of  a  superficial 
gladness  and  hope.  But  the  second  life  !  who  shall  tell  the 
wealth  of  that  ?  Through  interior  humiliations,  crucifixions, 
deaths,  the  Apostle  came  into  a  life  of  knowledge,  strength, 
and  peace  which  had  not  hitherto  entered  into  his  heart  to 
conceive ;  a  life  of  large  ideas,  of  emotions  at  once  blissful 
and  profound,  of  delightful  fellowships,  of  sublime  charity, 
of  most  glorious  hope.  The  opulence,  the  greatness,  the 
blessedness  of  that  life  of  faith,  the  Apostle  with  all  his 
inspired  eloquence  could  never  tell.  ''  Thanks  be  unto 
God  for  His  unspeakable  gift."'  "  Moreover  the  law  entered 
that  the  offence  might  abound.  But  where  sin  abounded, 
^■race  did  much  more  abound." 


THE   EXTINCTION   OF   EVIL, 


'Cir 


J 


/'-f 


THE  EXTINCTION  OF  EVIL. 

"Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  Nicodemus,  Verily,  verily,  I  sny 
unto  thee,  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of 
Cod." — John  iii.  3. 

Wi:  have  already  considered  evil  in  several  of  its  aspects, 
but  it  were  sad  indeed  if  we  were  compelled  to  stop  here. 
What  would  all  our  science  be  worth,  discerning  every- 
where in  nature  a  majestic  order  and  harmony,  if  it  left 
our  heart  the  prey  of  invincible  weakness  and  confusion  ? 
What  consolation  would  our  art  afford  us  if,  whilst  filling 
our  halls  with  grace  and  loveliness,  it  left  our  character 
incurably  deformed  and  disfigured  ?  What  pride  could  we 
feel  in  all  our  triumphs  of  government  and  civilization  if 
at  last  the  anarchy  of  the  soul  were  left  untouched  ?  But, 
thank  God,  we  need  not  to  stop  here.  It  is  our  privilege 
to  contemplate  the  abolition  of  evil,  the  full  deliverance  of 
the  afflicted  soul  from  its  power  and  being.  To  say  that 
we  must  be  born  again  is  to  say  that  we  can  be  born  again, 
so  becoming  new  creatures,  walking  in  newness  of  life.  In 
the  days  of  His  flesh  Christ  addressed  two  great  representa- 
tive characters — the  Pharisee  and  the  Publican ;  and  these 
are  the  representative  characters  in  all  generations.  Christ 
had   one  message   for  them  both  :  "  Verilv,   verilv.    I   sav 


1/2  THE   EXTINCTION   OF   EVIL. 

unto  thee,  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  God." 

I.  Let  us  consider  the  bearing  of  the  doctrine  of  re- 
generation on  the  moral  classes.  Nicodemus  was  a  Pharisee, 
one  who  beheved  that  he  could  attain  to  righteousness  by 
carefully  observing  certain  rules  of  conduct  and  worship. 
He  fasted,  he  prayed,  he  gave  tithes,  he  was  careful  about 
ablutions,  dress,  sacred  things  and  sacred  days ;  far  more 
than  this,  he  conformed  to  the  moral  precepts  of  the  law 
with  more  or  less  precision ;  and  thus  the  Pharisee  trusted 
to  grow  into  hohness.  But  Christ  says  to  Nicodemus  in  so 
many  words.  This  can  never  be ;  you  cannot  thus  educate 
yourself  into  goodness  ;  you  cannot  become  a  saint  through 
routine  and  ritual,  through  a  mechanical  compliance  with 
the  letter  of  the  law  :  to  become  really  righteous  you  must 
be  born  from  above.  Plato  was  inclined  to  believe  that 
virtue  was  not  really  teachable,  or  to  be  acquired  by  any 
prescribed  discipline,  but  that  it  was  the  special  volition 
and  grace  of  the  gods ;  and  Christ  taught  this  truth  dis- 
tinctly and  emphatically.  The  suggestion  and  interrogation 
of  the  Greek,  passes  into  clear  revelation  in  the  Master. 
^'Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  Except  a  man  be  born 
again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 

And  these  words  of  Christ  are  obviously  reasonable. 
Can  one  become  a  genius  by  rule  and  learning?  Can 
we  make  a  poet,  a  painter,  or  a  musician  by  discipline  ? 
Can  we  produce  masterpieces  by  following  precepts  and 
patterns?  We  know  well  the  impossibility  of  this.  We 
may  give  students  true  theories  of  art,  exact  and  detailed 
instructions  for  the  attainment  of  excellence ;  we  may  set 
before  them  splendid  models,  and  animate  them  with  the 
prospect   of  precious   prizes ;    but   however  slavishly  and 


THE   EXTINXTION   OF  EVIL.  1 73 

duggc^dly  they  put  llicmiielvcb  to  schuul,  coasciciiliuubly 
observing  every  item  in  the  educational  programme,  they 
never  become  artists  except  the  genius  was  inborn — at  last 
they  are  only  imitators,  mannerists,  pedants.  We  say 
truly,  poets  must  be  born.  Yes,  poets  in  words,  in  sounds, 
in  colours,  they  must  be  born;  they  cannot  be  manu- 
factured.  The  power  of  beauty,  harmony,  eloquence,  must 
be  in  their  soul,  born  in  them  ;  and  if  they  do  not  come 
into  the  world  trailing  these  clouds  of  glory,  you  can  never 
drill  them  into  artistic  perfection.  Now,  goodness  cannot 
be  taught  any  more  than  genius  can.  We  cannot  make 
men  holy  by  system  any  more  than  we  can  make  poets 
by  system,  Pure  and  noble  deeds  cannot  be  executed 
through  discipline  any  more  than  the  masterpieces  of  art 
can  be  produced  that  way.  The  position  of  our  Lord  in 
the  text  is,  we  cannot  become  truly  holy  by  any  attention 
whatever  to  philosophical,  ethical,  or  ecclesiastical  rules ; 
we  become  holy  only  as  the  Holy  Ghost  comes  down  into 
our  heart,  planting  there  the  genius  of  heavenly  power  ,, 
and  love. 

And  do  not  thousands  of  moral  men  feel  this  to  be  the 
case?  They  very  exactly  and  assiduously  observe  moral 
precepts  and  ecclesiastical  order  without  ever  feeling  the 
reahty  of  goodness,  that  iS;  the  power  and  liberty  and 
gladness  of  goodness.  Whatever  genius  does,  it  does  with 
rapture.  What  an  inexpressible  pleasure  it  must  have  been 
to  Angelo  to  paint,  to  Shakespeare  to  write,  to  Handel  to 
play  !  But  it  is  a  joyless  thing  to  write,  sing,  speak,  paint, 
without  force  and  fire.  Now,  multitudes  of  men  are  moral 
without  inspiration  or  delight ;  the  life  of  virtue  is  dry,  dull^ 
and  irksome.  Not  being  inborn,  living,  and  spontaneous, 
righteousness  lacks   richness,    exuberance,   victory.      The 


1/4  THE   EXTINCTION    OF   EVIL. 

saints  of  the  Old  Testament  did  not  find  obedience  to 
the  highest  law  a  bondage ;  neither  did  the  saints  of  the 
New  Testament.  Their  experience  was  full  of  the  sense 
of  gladness  as  summer  skies  are  full  of  the  music  of  larks 
and  nightingales.  And  such  is  the  life  of  goodness  in  the 
saints  of  to-day  :  it  is  to  them  freedom,  rapture,  glory — the 
statutes  of  God  are  their  songs  in  the  house  of  iheir 
pilgrimage.  The  saints  must  come  where  Plato,  Shake- 
speare, and  Newton  came  from — from  God ;  then  only  are 
they  winged,  coming  and  going  with  triumphant  music. 

But  are  not  some  men  born  saints  ?  do  they  not  come 
into  the  world  as  such  ?  It  is  affirmed  that  these  holy  men 
and  women  inherit  a  peculiarly  spiritual  and  tender  nature, 
and  that  the  whole  of  their  noble  and  beautiful  life  is 
the  result  of  a  singularly  delicate  and  happy  constitution. 
"  The  genuine  saint  is  a  moral  genius  of  a  peculiar  kind ;  he 
is  born,  not  made.  You  must  have  a  very  fine  and  peculiar 
organization  to  be  a  true  Christian ;  a  special  genius,  which 
generally  declares  itself  in  early  life,  as  special  genius  is  apt 
to  do.  A  Sister  Agnes  or  Mother  Margaret  take  to  vital 
religion  with  the  spontaneous  affinity  that  Mozart  took  to 
music,  Newton  to  mathematics,  and  Keats  to  poetry. 
Religious  genius,  in  its  highest  form,  is  as  rare,  perhaps 
more  rare,  than  genius  in  any  other  form  ;  and  exalted  piety 
is  as  unattainable  to  the  common  herd  as  exalted  poetry."  ^ 
Men  of  sublime  moral  qualities  are  the  choice  products  of 
human  nature ;  they  would  have  been  illustrious  in  what- 
ever age  of  the  world  they  might  have  lived,  and  with 
whatever  creed  they  might  have  held ;  their  moral 
superiority  is  the  consequence  of  their  superior  fibre, 
temperament,  and  force.  Rare  as  suns,  we  are  to  believe 
'  "  The  Service  of  Man." 


THE   EXTINXTION    OF    EVIL.  175 

that,  like  suns,  they  rise  upon  the  earth  full  of  inherent 
power  and  splendour.  But  is  this  so?  St.  John,  we 
presume,  was  a  saint ;  was  he  from  the  beginning  tender 
and  loving  ?  The  evidence  is  altogether  the  other  way. 
Was  Peter  a  saint  with  a  history  at  all  resembhng  Mr. 
Morison's  theory  ?  ^Ve  know  better.  Was  Paul  a  natural 
saint  ?  No  ;  these  holy  men  tell  us  how  they  experienced 
a  profound  regeneration ;  how  their  nobler  life  arose  out  of 
the  action  of  supernatural  grace.  John  is  full  of  this  glorious 
thought.  "If  ye  know  that  He  is  righteous,  ye  know  that 
every  one  that  doeth  righteousness  is  born  of  Him  ', " 
"  Whosoever  is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin  -,  for  his 
seed  remaineth  in  him  :  and  he  cannot  sin,  because  he  is 
born  of  God;"  ''Whatsoever  is  born  of  God  overcometh 
the  world ; "  "  But  as  many  as  received  Him,  to  them 
gave  He  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them 
that  believe  on  His  name  :  which  were  born,  not  of  blood, 
nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of 
God."  Listen  to  Peter.  "Seeing  ye  have  purified  your 
souls  in  obeying  the  truth  through  the  Spirit  unto  unfeigned 
love  of  the  brethren,  see  that  ye  love  one  another  with  a 
pure  heart  fervently  :  being  born  again,  not  of  corruptible 
seed,  but  of  incorruptible,  by  the  word  of  God,  which  liveth 
and  abideth  for  ever."  Paul  never  ceases  to  dwell  on  the 
interior  crisis  which  ushers  in  the  saintly  life.  "  Therefore 
if  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creation  ; "  "  For  we 
are  His  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good 
works."  This  Pharisee  knew  most  clearly  that  we  must 
become  "  new  men  "  to  walk  in  true  holiness  of  life.  No 
man  is  born  a  saint;  a  pure  and  fervent  heart  is  never 
the  result  of  organization.  If  we  are  to  believe  the  saints 
themselves,  they  were  born  from  above,  and  by  the  grace  of 


t;6  TtiE   EXTINCTION   OF    E\ TL. 

CiuJ  allaincd  and  perfected  the  bhiiiing  virtues  by  which 
they  were  adorned.    * 

To  lift  us  into  the  highest  life  of  all,  there  must  be  a 
supernatural  act,  a  breaking  forth  in  the  soul   of  a  new 
divine  power  and  love.     The  greatest  living  evolutionist 
holds  the  essential  identity  of  man's  bodily  structure  with 
tliat  of  the  animal  world,  and  that  man's  bodily  structure 
has  been  derived  from  the  lower  animals,  of  which  he  is  the 
culminating  development.     But  Wallace  will  not  allow  that 
man's  entire  nature,  and  all  his  faculties,  moral,  intellectual, 
spiritual,  have  been  derived  from  their  rudiments  in  the 
lower  animals.     Man  has  faculties,  mathematical,  musical, 
artistic,  moral,  which  have  not  been  developed  by  the  same 
laws  which  have  fashioned  the  physical  man.    And  the  facts 
compel  us  to  recognize  some  origin  for  them  wholly  distinct 
from   that   which  has   served  to  account  for   the   animal 
characteristics.     This  great  scientist  teaches  that  there  are 
at   least   three  stages  in  the  development  of  the   organic 
w^orld   when  some  new   cause  or  power  must   necessarily 
have  come  into  action.     The  first  stage  is  the  change  from 
inorganic   to   organic;    the   next   is    the    introduction   of 
sensation  or  consciousness  ;  the  third  stage  is  the  existence 
in  man  of  a  number  of  his  most  characteristic  and  noblest 
faculties,  those  which  raise  him  furthest  above  the  brutes 
and  open  up  possibilities  of  almost  indefinite  advancement. 
AVith  a  miracle  all  things  begin,  with  a  power  and  method 
transcending  all  our  thought  and  comprehension  j  and  in 
successive  stages  of  development  the  spiritual  universe  must 
assert  itself,  lifting  the  creatures  to  higher  planes  of  intel- 
lectual and  moral  life.     This  great  scientist  cannot  believe 
that  the  working  of  mere  material  law   will  account   for 
the   exaltation   of  humanity;   he  believes  in  the  spiritual 


TlIK    FA'TINCTION    OF    EVIL.  177 

universe,  and  in  fresh  and  extraordinary  manifestations  of 
its  power  in  the  tangible  world.  So  Christianity  declares 
that  in  human  experience  and  character  we  cannot  attain 
the  life  of  spiritual  righteousness  by  any  gradual  movement 
on  the  lines  of  ordinary  cultivation,  education,  and  dis- 
cipline ;  but  a  new  cause  and  power,  a  new  enduement 
of  heavenly  light  and  grace,  is  necessary  to  lift  the  soul  into 
the  largest  and  noblest  life.  As  an  extraordinary  action 
of  the  Spirit  is  necessary  to  explain  the  passage  in  nature 
from  the  inorganic  to  the  organic,  from  the  vegetable  to 
the  conscious,  from  animal  sensibility  to  moral  sense  and 
reason  ;  so  the  extraordinary  action  of  the  Spirit  is  essential 
if  policy  is  to  pass  into  virtue,  if  prudence  is  to  become 
righteousness,  if  propriety  is  to  rise  into  that  diviner  thing 
called  holiness,  if  morality  is  to  attain  to  the  noble  good- 
ness that  is  good  before  God.  "  Marvel  not  that  I  said 
unto  thee,  Ye  must  be  born  again." 

Brethren,  let  us  not  stop  short  of  this  change,  for  stop- 
ping short  of  this  we  miss  our  glorious  calling  and  hope. 
Evolutionists  speak  of  a  species  they  denominate  the 
''  Almost-man  ;  "  ^  that  is,  the  ape-like  creature  that  climbed 
high,  but  just  failed  to  reach  the  line  of  rationality.  Yet 
what  a  mighty  gulf  stretched  between  the  "almost-man" 
and  the  man  who  knows,  and  reasons,  and  prays  !  The 
inferior  creature,  supposed  by  another  impulse  and  evolve- 
ment  to  become  true  man,  has  yet  to  acquire  reason,  con- 
science, language;  all  the  imperial  faculties  are  to  be 
attained  in  that  last  step,  short  as  it  may  seem.  Between 
the  brute  and  man  a  gulf  opens  that  is  infinitely  wide  at  its 
straitest  part — a  gulf  that  no  evolutionist  can  fill.  The 
inferior  thing  cannot  insensibly  glide  into  the  noble  being 
'   "  Darwin's  Life,"  vol.  ii.  p.  227. 

N  — 14 


178  THE   EXTINCTION   OF   EVIL. 

—it  is  unthinkable.  When  the  brute  has  touched  its  highest, 
a  miracle  is  still  required  to  constitute  it  man — to  make  the 
almost,  altogether.  At  that  crisis  a  vital  spark  was  called 
for ;  a  birth  from  above,  a  divine  element  must  be  introduced 
before  the  beast,  raised  to  the  highest  as  a  beast,  could 
receive  its  apotheosis  and  rank  with  rational  beings.  Thus 
is  it  with  the  Almost-Christian,  and  the  genuine  son  of  God. 
There  is  a  mighty  gulf  indeed  between  the  highest  Pharisee 
and  him  who  is  least  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  If  the 
finished  formalist  is  to  become  a  truly  righteous  man,  an 
hour  will  come  when  the  Holy  Spirit  will  work  a  miraculous 
change  in  his  heart,  filling  it  with  the  visions  and  charities 
and  enthusiasms  of  a  new  life.  Paul  was  an  almost  Chris- 
tian, so  was  Luther,  so  was  Wesley,  so  was  Chalmers ;  but 
how  profound  and  memorable  was  the  change  which  made 
them  Christians  indeed  and  of  a  truth  !  "He  that  hath  the 
Son  hath  life ;  and  he  that  hath  not  the  Son  of  God  hath 
not  life."    We  notice — 

11.  The  bearing  of  the  doctrine  of  the  text  on  the 
iinj)wral  classes.  Christ  speaks  thus  to  the  publican — to 
the  openly,  grossly  wicked,  *'  iVIarvel  not  that  I  said  unto 
thee,  Ye  must  be  born  again."  For  all  such  there  is  no  way 
of  escape  except  in  the  doctrine  of  regeneration.  If  wc  do 
not  receive  Christ's  words  as  the  statement  of  a  glorious 
possibihty,  we  must  regard  with  despair  the  masses  about 
us.  Our  science,  our  observation,  our  experience,  prove  to 
us  that  there  is  no  deliverance  from  the  power  of  sin  except 
in  some  such  doctrine  as  this. 

I.  Think  of  the  power  of  inherited  constihiiion.  Theo- 
logians have  long  talked  of  original  sin,  of  inherited  predis- 
positions to  evil,  which  so  far  as  our  powers  are  concerned 
are  absolutely  overwhelming  and  entirely  incurable.     After 


THE   EXTINCTION   OF  EVIL.  1 79 

the  theologians  have  been  roundly  abused  for  centuries  for 
what  was  called  their  horrible  and  incredible  dogma,  philo- 
sophers come  to  their  aid  and  furnish  a  scientific  basis  for 
the  evangelical  creed.  Scientists  and  theologians,  in  fact 
and  substance,  speak  much  in  the  same  way  about  trans- 
mitted sin,  although  they  use  different  terminology ;  they 
ahke  declare  that  men  inherit  powerful  tendencies  to  evil, 
and  that  these  radical  tendencies  will  beat  us  do  what  we 
will.  The  prophet  bids  Israel  "  look  to  the  hole  of  the  pit 
whence  they  are  digged."  Terrible  vision  that,  if  we  look 
sheer  down  into  the  awful  pit  of  our  origin,  the  mass  of 
humanity  out  of  which  we  have  emerged  !  It  is  humiliating 
and  discouraging  indeed  to  think  of  the  ferocity,  the  lust, 
the  hideous  cruelty,  the  horrid  cannibalism,  the  drunken- 
ness, the  filth,  the  falsity,  the  wretchedness  unutterable  of 
the  past  races  out  of  which  we  have  arisen.  We  may  have 
no  family  genealogy,  and  that  may  be  another  unreckoned 
mercy  of  ours,  but  the  grey  fathers  have  left  their  mark  upon 
us ;  their  story  is  written  with  more  or  less  clearness  in  our 
constitution;  bound  up  in  our  heart  are  the  reminiscences 
of  their  weakness,  their  wickedness,  their  barbarism.  Can 
we  by  any  skill  or  resolution  throw  oft'  this  constitution  ? 
As  the  old  dramatist  expresses  man's  desire  to  escape  from 
self- 

'•  Can  man  by  no  means  creep  out  of  himself, 
And  leave  the  slough  of  viperous  grief  behind  ?  " 

We  can  prevent  these  morbid  tendencies  breaking  forth  in 
practical  life  into  criminal  misdeeds,  but  our  philosophers 
are  right  in  insisting  that  we  cannot  in  any  deep  sense  get 
rid  of  the  tyranny  of  a  constittitlon  hereditarily  depraved. 

We  sometimes  say  that  '•'  a  man  is  cured  of  his  faults," 
1)ut  how  little  that  generally  means !     It   means  no_  more 


l80  THE   EXTINCTION    OF   EVIL. 

than  t1iat  he  has  learned  to  keep  down  the  violent  out- 
ward manifestation  of  irregularities  of  temper  and  desire. 
A  man  with  a  constitutional  tendency  to  gout  may  keep  the 
malady  under  by  constant  watchfulness,  but  it  is  there,  it 
is  always  ready  to  break  out  afresh,  it  is  ever  giving  its 
victim  twinges,  and  the  slightest  indiscretion  lays  him  up 
again  ;  so  men  are  cured  of  their  faults,  being  all  the  time 
a  long  way  from  getting  rid  of  them.  "Can  the  Ethiopian 
change  his  skin,  or  the  leopard  his  spots  ?  then  may  ye  also 
do  good,  that  are  accustomed  to  do  evil."  If  there  is  any 
salvation  from  the  defiling  and  triumphant  power  of  inherited 
characters  of  evil,  it  is  in  the  glorious  doctrine  of  a  birth 
from  above. 

2.  Think  of  the  power  of  circunistance.  Some  of  our 
philosophers  tell  us  that  circumstances  entirely  dominate 
a  man,  determining  his  life  just  as  a  channel  determines 
the  direction  and  fortunes  of  the  stream  which  flows  in  it. 
That  this  view  requires  qualification  most  men  will  admit. 
It  is  wonderful,  for  example,  how  a  man  of  resolution  will 
triumph  over  physical  defects— the  blind  becoming  discern- 
ing, the  stammerer  eloquent,  the  weak  strong.  And  it  is 
equally  wonderful  how  men  of  decision  triumph  over  en- 
vironment. Genius  levels  mountains,  spans  rivers,  causes 
wildernesses  to  blossom,  links  together  with  electric  chains 
the  ends  of  the  earth.  The  gifted  man  cares  not  for 
difficulties  ;  like  a  mountain-torrent,  he  gains  momentum 
from  every  obstacle ;  a  master-athlete,  he  throws  the  world. 
Masters  of  circumstance  in  many  directions,  but  how  soon 
we  succumb  to  circumstance  when  it  relates  to  character  ! 
He  who  is  triumphantly  strong  in  other  directions  is  helpless 
here;  he  who  heroically  and  magnificently  succeeds  in 
fortune  ignobly  fails  in  morals.     He  who  successfully  battles 


THE   EXTIXCTION    OF   EVIL.  15 f 

wilh  circumstances  to  become  a  scholar,  is  vainiuished  by 
fleshly  desires ;  he  who  becomes  rich  in  the  teeth  of  cir- 
cumstances, is  then  mastered  and  degraded  by  his  riches ; 
he  who  surmounts  circumstances  to  become  great,  im- 
mediately falls  a  victim  to  luxury  and  pride.  Men  make 
a  grand  fight  with  circumstance  in  the  kingdoms  of  nature 
and  society,  but  a  sorry  fight  with  circumstances  as  these 
menace  the  kingdom  of  the  spirit ;  they  fail  most  where  it 
is  exactly  most  desirable  that  they  should  succeed. 

It  is  only  in  the  birth  from  above  that  we  rise  above 
the  despotism  of  things,  places,  and  events.  Filled  with 
spiritual  knowledge,  sympathy,  conviction,  hope,  we  become 
masters  of  circumstance  in  the  moral  sphere,  as  the  sons  of 
genius  assert  mastery  in  the  material  sphere,  subjecting  it 
to  their  will,  their  interest,  their  pleasure.  "  I  know  both 
how  to  be  abased,  and  I  know  how  to  abound  :  everywhere 
and  in  all  things  I  am  instructed  both  to  be  full  and  to 
be  hungry,  both  to  abound  and  to  suffer  need.  I  can  do 
all  things  through  Christ  which  strengthened  me."  Here 
speaks  a  man  who  has  been  created  in  Christ  Jesus,  and 
who  in  the  power  of  a  new  life  is  able  to  employ  all  worldly 
circumstance  to  pure  and  immortal  uses.  He  who  is  filled 
with  the  love  of  God,  the  enthusiasm  of  righteousness,  the 
hope  of  immortality,  is  clothed  with  the  sun,  the  moon 
being  under  his  feet. 

3.  Think  of  the  power  of  habit.  The  philosopher 
maintains  the  power  of  habit,  its  invincible  power,  and 
much  must  be  conceded  to  him  on  this  point.  He  is 
severe  upon  any  theory  which  tends  to  discredit  or  under- 
rate habit.  He  will  only  allow  that  inveterate  habit  may 
very  rarely  be  broken  by  an  act  of  volition.  An  act  often 
repeated  establishes  in  the  man  a  bias  which  is  organic  and 


l82  THE   EXTINCTION   OF   EVIL. 

invincible.  Men  go  on  for  years  with  their  evil  thinkings, 
speakings,  doings,  and  yet  all  the  while  fancy  that  they  can 
at  will  adopt  a  new  course  of  action  whenever  they  may  think 
it  advisable.  No  mistake  can  be  greater  or  more  fatal. 
I>ink  by  link  do  men  forge  for  themselves  these  more  than 
iron  fetters;  instead  of  finding  themselves  able  to  burst 
these  bonds,  they  are  terrified  to  find  they  have  fastened 
upon  themselves  "everlasting  chains."  Slowly  and  in- 
sidiously do  the  evil  habits  grow  until  they  become  as 
gnarled  crooked  trees  which  none  may  straighten;  little 
by  little  the  gossamer  thread  becomes  a  cart-rope  which 
none  may  break ;  imperceptibly  does  the  film  of  ice  spread 
over  the  river,  holding  the  waters  before  long  in  a  gras}) 
which  Niagara  could  not  burst.  The  character  is  stereo- 
typed ;  the  life  moves  in  deep  downward  grooves.  Says 
the  modern  determinist,  "  By  habit  the  mind  is  reduced 
into  servitude."  Says  the  Apostle,  ''We  are  sold  under 
sin." 

Only  a  birth  from  above  can  emancipate  us  from  the 
dominant  power  of  evil  habit.  "Ardent  love,  gratitude, 
and  veneration  for  Christ,  ivJien  kindled,  are  able  to  snap 
the  chains  of  habit,  and  sometimes  to  prevent  their  being 
welded  together  again."  ^  Yes  ;  even  the  agnostic  must 
confess  this,  that  Christ  can  so  fill  the  soul  with  nobler 
passions  as  to  break  finally  the  power  of  inbred  sin,  con- 
firmed by  long-continued  practical  transgression.  Only  the 
grace  of  regeneration  can  do  this,  but  that  grace  does  effect 
the  glorious  conversion,  and  not  rarely.  "  Know  ye  not 
that  the  unrighteous  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God  ? 
Be  not  deceived :  neither  fornicators,  nor  idolaters,  nor 
adulterers,  nor  effeminate,  nor  abusers  of  themselves  with 

'  Morison. 


THE  EXTINCTION   OF   EVIL.  183 

mankind,  nor  thieves,  nor  covetous,  nor  drunkards,  nor 
rcvilers,  nor  extortioners,  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God. 
And  such  were  some  of  you  :  but  ye  are  washed,  but  ye  are 
sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God."  When  the  Spirit  of 
God  descends  into  the  soul,  filling  it  with  profound  emotion, 
royal  power,  unquenchable  love, — evil  instincts,  associations, 
habits,  fall  away  like  broken  fetterS;  and  the  soul  walks 
abroad  in  glorious  liberty. 

We  cannot  deny  the  thraldom  of  inherited  character,  the 
tyranny  of  circumstances,  the  power  of  habit.  It  is  the  cry 
of  the  convicted  sinner  so  vividly  rendered  by  Paul :  "  O 
wretched  man  that  I  am !  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the 
body  of  this  death?"  Entirely  hopeless  is  the  agonized 
soul.  To  what,  then,  arc  we  shut  up  ?  Absolute  despair, 
or  the  doctrine  of  regeneration — this  is  the  alternative. 
Says  the  agnostic,  "  There  is  no  remedy  for  a  bad  heart." 
Never  were  truer  words  spoken.  There  is  no  remedy  for  a 
bad  heart — this  is  the  fundamental  position  of  Christianity  ; 
therefore  it  comes  with  its  doctrine  of  regeneration,  its 
miracle  of  a  new  creation,  its  supernatural  grace  to  implant 
and  sustain  a  heavenly  life.  That  there  is  no  remedy  for  a 
bad  heart  is  the  precise  reason  why  Christ  proffers  us  a 
new  one.  "  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh."  Our 
first  birth  brought  with  it  all  the  evils  of  the  flesh — weakness, 
appetite,  suffering,  mortality.  "  That  which  is  born  of  the 
Spirit  is  spirit."  The  second  birth  brings  with  it  the  infinite 
strength  and  wealth  of  the  Eternal  Spirit  of  love  and  truth 
and  purity. 

(i)  Let  none  stay  short  of  this  great  change.  No  mere 
reformation  will  suffice.  Reformation  out  of  pre-existing 
materials  means  little  when  those  elements  are  base ;  what 


184  THE   EXTINCTION    OF   EVlL.  " 

is  wanted  most  of  all  are  new  elements.  Reformation 
promises  much  and  yields  little  whilst  it  works  with  the  old 
corrupt  and  tarnished  material ;  only  when  the  wood,  hay, 
stubble  of  the  old  life  are  replaced  by  the  silver,  gold,  and 
precious  stones  of  new  thoughts  and  affections  can  we  build 
a  temple  that  God  will  inhabit.  "  Be  ye  transformed  by 
the  renewing  of  your  mind,  that  ye  may  prove  what  is  that 
good,  and  acceptable,  and  perfect  will  of  God."  No  other 
reformation  than  this  will  suffice  ;  changed  form,  because  of 
changed  essence.  No  mere  education  will  suffice.  Educa- 
tion brings  out  what  is  in,  but  we  have  seen  that  the  contents 
of  our  nature  are  such  that  something  very  different  to 
education  is  called  for.  "  Who  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out 
of  an  unclean?  not  one."  Not  God  Himself.  And  yet 
how  current  is  the  notion  that  by  some  alchemy  we  shall  get 
humility  out  of  pride,  charity  out  of  selfishness,  purity  out 
of  lust,  meekness  out  of  ferocity,  peace  out  of  passion  !  It 
is  thought  by  many  that  time  and  discipline  are  alone 
wanted  to  bring  out  of  this  poor  nature  a  perfect  man. 
When  the  good  things  are  j^lanted  in  us  they  may  be 
cherished  and  trained  into  glorious  perfecdon,  but  they 
must  be  planted  first.  Least  of  all  will  any  mere  decoration 
suffice.  A  watch  failing  to  keep  time  will  not  be  corrected 
by  any  jewelling  of  the  case ;  painting  the  organ-pipes  will 
not  improve  the  music ;  whitewashing  the  pump  will  not 
purify  the  water.  Society  in  various  ways  seeks  to  gild  the 
exterior,  but  what  we  need  is  beauty  of  life  springing  from 
truth  in  the  inward  parts.  Let  none  of  us  stop  short  of 
this — the  love  and  purity  of  God  filling  our  breast.  Out  of 
the  heart  are  the  issues  of  life. 

(2)  We  must  remember  that  this  change  is  wrought  in 
us  only  through  the  power  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ.     Men 


THE   EXTINCTION    OF   EVIL.  1 85 

can  manipulate,  but  God  alone  can  create.  In  the  beginning 
God  created  and  made  all  that  is;  and  the  same  powerful 
voice  that  called  the  stars  out  of  the  depths  must  create 
in  us  new  instincts,  sympathies,  and  desires,  new  powers 
of  thought  and  feeling  and  will.  He  who  caused  the 
light  to  shine  out  of  the  darkness  must  shine  into  our 
heart.  If  any  man  will  live  a  new  life  he  must  go  to  the 
Father  of  spirits ;  he  must  cry  with  the  psalmist,  "  Create 
in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God ;  and  renew  a  right  spirit 
within  me."  And  this  power  of  God  works  through  Jesus 
Christ.  Here,  indeed,  comes  in  the  whole  justification 
of  Christianity.  If  humanity  needed  nothing  more  than 
culture,  reform,  adornment,  then  Christianity  is  a  vast  and  JUy^  0  <^' 
profound  mistake,  then  Christ  died  in  vain ;  but  if  the 
spirit  within  us  is  to  be  reached  and  changed,  we  see  the 
reason  for  the  glorious  truth,  the  infinite  love,  the  mighty 
hope  of  the  Gospel.  The  grace  which  absolves,  quickens, 
hallows  the  penitent  heart,  is  the  grace  of  God  in  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  And  how  many  proofs  we  have  of  the  fact 
and  power  of  this  grace  !  The  geologist  tells  us  that  ages 
ago  vast  and  horrible  creatures  filled  the  air  and  waters — 
fierce  and  hideous  monsters  swarmed  and  fought  in  the 
primaeval  slime  ;  but  in  due  time  God  swept  away  mastodon, 
mammoth,  megatherium,  and  filled  the  world  with  mild  and 
beautiful  forms  of  life.  But  to-day  w^e  see  moral  changes 
wrought  far  more  Avonderful  than  any  to  which  the  petri- 
factions of  the  geologist  witness;  we  see  the  power  of 
Christ  destroying  passions  far  more  terrible  than  the  lizards, 
serpents,  and  crocodiles  of  the  antediluvian  world,  creating 
graces  sweeter  and  fairer  than  the  choicest  forms  of 
perfected  nature.  "  In  the  habitation  of  dragons,  where 
each  lay,  is  grass  with  reeds  and  rushes."     Brethren,  feeling 


I86  THE   EXTINXTlON   OF   EVIL. 

the  entire  inefficacy  of  every  self-eftbrt  to  bring  your  life 
up  to  a  really  worthy  standard,  claim  the  grace  of  God  in 
Chribt,  and  you  shall  exult  with  the  Apostle,  "  Blessed  be 
the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which 
according  to  His  abundant  mercy  hath  begotten  us  again 
unto  a  lively  hope  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from 
the  dead,  to  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  undefiled,  and 
that  fadeth  not  away." 

(3)  Let  no  man  despair  of  this  change  being  wrought  in 
him.  "  Can  a  man  be  born  when  he  is  old?  "  To  give  an 
affirmative  answer  to  this  question  Christ  came  into  the 
w^orld.  An  old  man  may  look  upon  this  summer  w^orld 
throbbing  with  energy,  breaking  into  flowers,  into  songs, 
l)Utting  forth  radiant  fruits,  instinct  with  life,  after  long  ages 
yet  overflowing  with  force,  riches,  joy ;  but  the  patriarch 
>\ith  feeble  step  and  dim  eye  can  never  hope  again  to  share 
in  the  full  magnilicent  life  which  flows  around  him,  blossom- 
ing in  the  tree,  trilhng  in  the  bird,  shooting  in  the  grass — 
the  fire  will  no  more  come  to  his  eye,  the  colour  to  his 
cheek,  the  energy  to  his  limbs ;  the  lost  glory  can  no  more 
be  renewed;  the  wind  passeth  over  him  and  he  is  gone. 
But  the  weak  and  perishing  soul  may  be  re-born,  filled 
with  new  power,  bathed  in  an  atmosphere  rich  with  precious 
stimulations.  Here  is  the  miracle  of  miracles— a  penitent 
and  obedient  soul  may  share  in  the  magnificent  moral  life 
which  Christ  has  made  to  flow  through  the  universe  of 
perishing  souls.  He  came  that  we  might  have  life,  and  that 
we  might  have  it  more  abundantly.  Claim  this  grace, 
*'and  thine  age  shall  be  clearer  than  the  noonday;  thou 
shalt  shine  forth,  thou  shalt  be  as  the  morning." 

(4)  Let  us  be  co-workers  with  God  towards  this  new- 
creation.     We  must  not  make  the  grace  of  God  in  vain. 


THE   EXTINCTION    OF    EVIL.  1 8/ 

We  feci  how  great  was  the  power  which  tabhioned  this  lovely 
world  out  of  elements  so  opaque  and  intractable.     But  here 
the  word  of  God  immediately  prevailed— the  granite  was 
plastic,  the  hills  were  responsive,  the  winds  were  obedient, 
the  dark  waters   kissed  the  feet  of  Him  who  walked  on 
them.     But  it  is  another  and  far  harder  thing  to  mould  a 
spirit  in  which  inheres  independence  and  strange  powers  of 
inertia  and  opposition.     '•  And  I  will  give  them  one  heart, 
and  I  will  put  a  new  spirit  within  you ;  and  I  will  take  the 
stony  heart  out  of  their  flesh,  and  will  give  them  a  heart  of 
flesh  :  that  they  may  walk  in  My  statutes,  and  keep  Mine 
ordinances,  and  do  them."     But  a  few  chapters  further  we 
read,  *'  Cast  away  from  you  all  your  transgressions,  whereby 
ye  have  transgressed  ;  and  make  you  a  new  heart  and  a 
new  spirit  :  for  why  will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel  ?  "     God 
was  to  give  them  a  new  heart,  and  they  were  to  make  fur 
themselves  a  new  heart ;  in  other  w  ords,  by  thought,  prayer, 
and  endeavour   they  were  to  co-operate  with  the  Divine 
grace  to  the  desired  end.     Let  us  yield  ourselves  to  God, 
and  the  new  creation  shall  soon  appear  in  us,  whilst  the 
morning  stars  shall  sing  together  a  new  song,  and  all  tlie 
sons  of  God  shout  for  joy  over  the  recovery  of  a  soul  as 
thev  never  did  over  the  creation  of  a  sun. 


THE    LAW    OF    ANTAGONISM 


/^ 


THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM. 

"From  His  right  hand  went  a  fiery  law  for  them.     Yen,  He  loved 
the  people." — Deut.  xxxiii.  2,  3. 

At  first  sight  the  text  might  seem  to  involve  a  contradiction, 
but  closer  consideration  will  show  that  it  expresses  a  great 
truth,  viz.  that  the  severity  of  human  life  is  an  expression  of 
the  Divine  goodness. 

I.  We  briefly  consider  the  truth  of  the  text  as  it  finds 
expression  in  nature.  The  fiery  law  published  at  Sinai  is 
proclaimed  from  every  mountain-top ;  it  burns  and  blazes 
through  all  the  earth ;  the  sea  also  is  crystal  mingled  with 
fire.  In  all  ages  men  have  felt  the  sternness  of  nature. 
Cicero  speaks  of  her  as  our  stepmother ;  and  the  longer  the 
world  lasts,  the  more  fully  do  we  realize,  the  more  keenly 
do  we  feel^  the  severity  and  inviolableness  of  the  laws  of 
the  physical  universe.  The  fiery  law  is  universal;  it  is 
inevitably  associated  with  unorganized  matter,  with  organized 
matter,  and  with  sentient  beings.  Nature  knows  nothing 
of  indulgence;  she  makes  no  concessions  to  ignorance, 
folly,  or  weakness ;  her  profound  and  majestic  arrangements 
are  to  be  respected  ;  and  those  who  dare  to  set  themselves 
in  opposition  to  these  arrangements  are  forthwitli  wiped 
out.  Nature  is  imperative,  uncompromising,  terrible. 
"  From    His    ri2;ht    hand  went  a  fierv  law    for  them."     A 


193  THE    LAW    OF   ANTAGONISM. 

lefty  and  unyielding  commandment  is  written  over  all 
tilings,  and  behind  the  fiery  law  is  a  right  hand  capable  of 
enforcing  it  to  the  utmost,  of  exacting  the  last  farthing  of 
the  overwhelming  penalty. 

And  yet  this  severity  everywhere  discerned  is  not 
malevolent,  but  benign;  it  is  constructive,  more  than  it  is 
destructive;  its  action  is  to  save,  to  heighten,  to  perfect. 
In  our  day  the  severity  of  nature  has  been  recognized 
as  "  the  struggle  for  existence,"  and  students  have  shown 
with  great  clearness  and  power  how  full  the  world  is  of 
antagonism  and  suffering;  yet  these  same  students  dis- 
tinctly perceive  that  the  struggle  for  existence  is  at  bottom 
merciful,  and  that  whenever  nature  chooses  an  evil  it  is  a 
lesser  evil  to  prevent  a  greater. 

I.  They  see  the  advantage  of  severity  so  far  as  all 
sound  and  healthy  things  are  concerned.  If  the  conditions 
of  life  are  in  any  degree  softened,  it  is  to  the  detriment 
of  the  noble  organisms  concerned.  Give  a  creature  with  a 
fine  organization  an  easy,  pleasant  lot,  and  the  process  of 
degeneration  immediately  sets  in ;  in  the  course  of  a  few 
generations  the  pampered  thing  loses  its  larger  brain,  its 
power  of  vision,  its  exquisite  sense,  its  strength  and  speed, 
and  becomes  a  mere  parasite,  altogether  degraded  and 
contemptible.  Rut,  once  more,  let  the  conditions  of  life 
to  that  creature  become  severe ;  let  it  be  reduced  to  a  state 
of  hunger,  danger,  and  painfulness ;  let  food  be  scarce, 
enemies  abundant,  climate  harsh  and  bitter,  and  the  fallen 
creature  begins  to  recover  its  lost  glory,  until  in  a  few 
generations  it  has  attained  once  more  all  the  complexity, 
vitality,  and  beauty  of  which  that  special  organism  is  sus- 
ceptible. The  student  of  nature  knows  well  that  the  fiery 
law,  the  law  which  demands  constant  awareness,  movement, 


THE   T,AW  OF  AXTAGONISM.  Igl, 

tension,  resistance,  endeavour,  is  the  law  of  salvation  and 
perfecting  to  the  whole  animal  world. 

2.  These  students  of  nature  see  also  the  advantage  of 
severity  so  far  as  defective  things  are  concerned.  It  does, 
indeed,  seem  harsh  that  by  the  law  of  the  world  weak 
things  go  to  the  wall,  and  it  is  often  difficult  to  reconcile 
ourselves  to  the  grim  fact.  The  potter  who  has  to  maintain 
a  great  reputation  will  not  permit,  on  any  consideration,  a 
defective  article  bearing  his  name  to  go  forth  to  the  world ; 
each  piece  must  be  true  in  shape  and  colour  and  finish, 
or  else,  whatever  may  be  its  general  worth  and  beauty,  it 
is  ruthlessly  broken  and  cast  with  the  rubbish  to  the  void. 
Now,  whatever  regret  we  might  sometimes  feel  to  see  a 
beautiful  vase  doomed  to  the  potsherds  because  of  some 
slight  flaw,  we  should  not  experience  any  very  acute  dis- 
tress ;  neither  do  we  feel  any  such  distress  when  in  nature 
we  witness  the  similar  elimination  of  unfitting  plants  and 
flowers.  But  it  is  a  different  thing  when  we  witness  the 
stern  destruction  of  sentient  life.  Then  conscious  loss  and 
suffering  come  into  the  question,  and  we  cannot  see  living 
creatures  with  many  merits  and  charms  blotted  out  without 
experiencing  the  sense  of  pain  and  perplexity.  Yet  the 
scientist  sees  truly  that  the  fiery  law  which  smites  weakness 
into  the  dust  is  just  as  kind  as  the  sweet  light  of  the  sun. 
It  is  better  for  the  world  at  large  that  weak  organisms 
should  be  eliminated,  otherwise  the  earth  would  be  filled 
with  imperfection  and  wretchedness;  it  is  better  for  the 
creatures  concerned  that  they  should  perish,  for  why  should 
a  miserable  existence  be  indefinitely  prolonged  ? 

So,  then,  the  law  of  the  world  is  not  mild,  indulgent, 
grandmotherly ;  it  is  a  fiery  law,  a  law  calling  for  exer- 
tion, courage,  circumspection,  sacrifice,  persistency,  and  it 

0—14 


194  THE   LAW   OF   ANTAGONISM. 

avenges  itself  by  the  annihilation  of  whatever  is  ignorant, 
incapable,  indolent,  weak,  or  disobedient.  And  yet  this 
austerity  is  essentially  kind.  The  struggle  for  existence  is 
only  seemingly  cruel ;  the  keen  strife  going  on  everywhere 
between  plant  and  plant,  animal  and  animal,  bird  and  bird, 
insect  and  insect,  the  internecine,  interminable  strife,  the 
push  and  pull,  the  storm  and  strain,  the  toil  and  trial  of  the 
whole  creation,  has  lifted  this  glorious  world  out  of  the  mud, 
filled  it  with  a  myriad  splendid  forms,  peopled  it  with 
millions  of  creatures  capable  of  maintaining  life  and  capable 
of  enjoying  it.  "  From  His  right  hand  went  a  fiery  law 
for  them.     Yea,  He  loved  the  people." 

n.  We  consider  the  text  as  it  finds  expression  in 
civilization.  The  law  of  civilization  is  a  fiery  law.  It  is 
not  by  gentle  yielding  restrictions,  by  pliant  understandings, 
by  soft  phrases,  by  light  penalties  easily  remitted,  by  facility 
and  complaisance,  by  the  coddling  of  the  individual^  and 
the  pampering  of  the  nations,  but  by  laws  most  exacting 
and  rigorous,  tliat  God  governs  the  race  and  conducts  it 
to  ultimate  perfection.  And  yet  once  more  we  may  see 
that  the  fiery  law  is  only  a  definition  of  love. 

I.  Take  the  struggle  of  man  with  nattire.  The  tropical 
sun  burns  us ;  the  Arctic  cold  freezes  us  ;  in  temperate 
regions  the  changeability  of  the  weather  troubles  us ;  and 
everywhere  we  experience  the  fury  of  the  elements.  All 
climates  and  countries  have  their  special  inconveniences, 
inhospitalities,  and  scourges,  and  everywhere  men  live  in 
a  more  or  less  decided  conflict  with  the  elements  and 
seasons.  Through  constant  vigilance,  labour,  fatigue,  and 
suffering,  arising  from  the  confusions  and  severities  of 
nature,  do  the  great  mass  of  civilized  men  manage  to  live. 
How  constant  must  be  our  solicitude  if  we  are  to  preserve 


THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM.  195 

our  health !  We  stand  in  jeopardy  every  hour ;  the 
slightest  unwatchfulness  or  indiscretion  on  our  part,  and 
cold,  heat,  damp,  wind,  sun,  snow,  rain,  bring  upon  us 
suffering,  disease,  death.  How  continually  must  we  strive 
for  bread  !  We  are  no  longer  dwellers  in  a  Paradise  where 
freely  grow  fruits  pleasant  to  the  sight  and  good  for  food, 
but  in  a  wilderness  world  where  we  must  eat  our  bread  in 
the  sweat  of  our  face.  It  often  seems,  as  the  pessimist 
loves  to  picture  it,  as  if  nature  had  entered  into  a  fierce 
conspiracy  to  starve  and  destroy  us.  The  sun  burns  up 
the  fields,  the  hurricane  spreads  ruin,  floods  devastate,  the 
rains  rot  the  corn,  diseases  waste  the  flocks ;  armies  of  flies, 
locusts,  caterpillars,  palmerworms,  eat  up  the  gardens,  the 
orchards,  the  vineyards.  This  stern  wrestling  of  man  with 
his  environment  never  ceases ;  by  a  bitter,  intense,  un- 
remitting effort  does  he  unclench  the  granite  hand  of 
nature,  and  faint  and  weary  seize  his  daily  bread. 

But  is  not  this  conflict  with  nature  part  of  the  inspira- 
tion and  programme  of  civilization  ?  Contending  with  the 
globe,  we  are  like  Jacob  wrestHng  with  the  angel.  The 
fight  is  long  and  hard  amid  the  mystery  and  the  darkness, 
and  the  great  Power  seems  reluctant  to  bless  us ;  but  the 
breaking  of  the  day  comes,  and  we  find  ourselves  blest  with 
corn,  wine,  oil,  purple,  feasts,  flowers.  Ah  !  and  with  gifts 
far  beyond  those  of  basket  and  store — ripened  intelligence,  / 
^s^lf-reliance^  courage,  skill,  manhness,  virtue.  Of  course 
man  suffers  in  the  conflict,  as  the  patriarch  did.  When  we 
see  the  farm-labourer  bent  double  with  rheumatism,  or  the 
collier  mutilated  by  the  explosion  in  the  mine,  or  the  grinder 
with  his  lung  gone,  or  the  weaver  with  his  enfeebled 
physique,  or  the  seaman  prematurely  old  through  his  battle 
with  wind  and  wave,  or  any  of  the  million  workers  who 


ig6  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM. 

carry  pathetic  signs  of  the  arduousness  of  toil^  we  see  the 
limp  of  the  victorious  wrestler.  In  the  South  Seas  the 
natives  lie  on  their  back,  and  the  bread-fruit  drops  into  their 
mouth.  But  these  make  a  poor  show  in  the  grand  proces- 
sion of  the  ages.  The  law  of  life  is  truly  severe  which 
enjoins  that  man  shall  eat  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his  face, 
but  in  this  struggle  for  life  our  great  antagonist  is  our  great 
helper ;  we  are  leaving  barbarism  behind  us ;  we  are  under- 
going a  magnificent  transformation ;  we  are  becoming  princes 
of  God  and  heirs  of  all  things. 

2.  Take  the  struggle  of  man  with  man.  Society  is  a  great 
system  of  antitheses.  There  are  international  rivalries — a 
relentless  competition  between  the  several  races  and  nations 
for  power  and  supremacy.  The  various  peoples  watch  each 
other  across  the  seas ;  the  earth  is  full  of  feuds,  stratagems, 
competitions.  And  within  the  separate  communities  what 
complex  and  unceasing  emulations  and  antagonisms  exist ! 
Neighbours  strive  in  the  commercial  and  political  arenas 
for  power,  wealth,  liberty,  bread.  It  is  gracious  to  admonish 
men  to  "  live  and  let  live,"  but  every  active  citizen  by  his 
industry  and  ingenuity  is  in  many  respects  making  it  more 
difficult  for  his  neighbour  to  live. 

But  this  social  rivalry  brings  its  rich  compensations.  It 
is  so  with  the  international  rivalry.  America  and  Australia 
at  this  moment  are  sending  into  this  country  corn,  meats, 
fruits,  and  our  farmers  declare  that  they  are  being  ruined. 
But  the  fact  is,  men  have  to  be  ruined  that  they  may  be 
made  over  again,  and  fashioned  on  a  grander  pattern.  Our 
husbandmen  will  be  compelled  to  put  away  all  droning ; 
they  must  go  to  school  again,  they  must  invent  new  methods, 
they  must  adopt  new  machines,  sow  choicer  seeds,  breed 
superior  cattle;  they  must  grub  up  the  old  canker-eaten, 


THE  LAW   OF  ANTAGONISM.  197 

lichen-laden  orchards,  and  plant  fresh  fruit-trees  of  the  best 
varieties.  The  pressure  of  the  times  will  lift  the  national 
husbandry  to  a  higher  plane.  And  this  international  rivalry 
will  have  the  same  stimulating  effect  on  city  life.  Very 
loud  and  bitter  are  the  complaints  of  our  manufacturers 
because  the  French,  the  Belgians,  the  Germans,  the 
Americans,  are  cutting  us  out  in  many  markets,  and  utterly 
spoiling  our  old  lucrative  monopolies.  Our  merchants  and 
manufacturers  are  at  their  wits'  end  ;  but  when  men  come 
to  that  point,  that  they  may  not  perish,  they  discover  a 
new  length  of  wit.  Old  machinery  is  put  away,  and  more 
exquisite  enginery  takes  its  place ;  chemistry  seeks  out  fresh 
secrets;  the  workman  is  more  fully  educated.  The  inter- 
national rivalries  are  followed  by  those  victories  of  peace 
which  enrich  the  nations  just  as  much  as  war  exhausts  them. 
So  the  stern  discipline,  the  law  that  will  not  allow  the 
peoples  to  go  to  sleep,  that  involves  them  in  perpetual 
anxiety,  is  really  nourishing  them  into  strength  and  faculty, 
giving  them  higher  honour,  securing  them  unspeakably  larger 
satisfactions.  Cato  asked,  "  What  was  to  become  of  Rome 
when  she  should  no  longer  have  any  state  to  fear  ?  "  As 
the  historian  tells  us,  a  sorry  answer  was  soon  given  to  the 
question  of  the  veteran  patriot.  After  a  generation  or  two 
of  peace  and  security,  the  Roman  tenacity  of  purpose  and 
power,  of  heroic  self-sacrifice,  were  no  more ;  the  season  of 
tranquillity  brought  with  it  selfishness,  negligence,  indul- 
gence, and  the  decay  of  Italy  set  in.  Each  shining  nation, 
like  each  shining  star,  is  kept  in  its  place  and  orbit  by 
antagonistic  forces  exerted  upon  it  by  other  bodies ;  and  if 
this  antagonism  were  suspended,  the  glorious  nation  would 
darken  as  the  star  would  drop  from  its  sphere. 

The  difficulties  which  beset  personal  and  family  life  arc 


198  THE   LAW   OF  ANTAGONISM. 

similarly  rich  in  compensation.  We  often  speak  of  "keep- 
ing the  wolf  from  the  door,"  and  the  majority  find  this  a 
hard  fight.  What  trouble  the  threatening  animal  gives  us  ! 
If  in  the  morning  we  are  disposed  for  a  little  extra  slumber, 
the  ominous  howl  startles  us  from  the  pillow;  if  we  are 
tempted  to  linger  at  the  table,  its  fierce  breathings  at  the 
threshold  summon  us  straightway  to  duty ;  if  we  doze  in 
the  armchair,  the  gleaming  eyes,  the  white  teeth,  the  red 
throat  at  the  window-pane,  bring  us  to  our  feet.  And  yet 
how  much  the  best  of  men,  the  most  truly  aristocratic 
families,  owe  to  the  wolf!  Solicitude,  Fatigue,  Difficulty, 
Danger,  Hunger,  these  are  the  true  king-makers ;  and  the 
misfortune  with  many  rich  families  to-day  is,  that  they  are 
being  gradually  let  down  because  they  are  losing  sight  of 
the  wolf.  The  wolf  not  merely  suckled  Romulus  ;  it  suckles 
all  kings  of  men.  The  wolf  is  not  a  wolf  at  all ;  it  is  an 
angel  in  wolves'  clothing,  saving  us  from  rust,  sloth, 
effeminacy,  cowardice,  baseness,  from  a  miserable  super- 
ficiality of  thought,  life,  and  character. 

So  the  government  of  God  in  human  society  is  marked 
by  a  severity  men  often  shrink  from,  and  yet  it  works  out 
glory  and  blessing.  \  Out  of  the  conflict  of  man  with  nature,     \ 
out  of  international  oppositions  and  colUsions,  out  of  the     i 
complex  emulations  of  the  community,  springs  that  glorious 
flower  of  the  ages  we  call  civilization.     As  the  solar  system 
and  the  stellar  universe  are  sustained  and  developed  by 
antagonism,  so  out  of  social  antagonism  shall  come  the  new     / 
earth,  which  is  also  a  new  heaven,  wherein  dwelleth  order-     j 
liness,   reason,   brotherhood,    righteousness,  progress,    and^y 
peace.  — 

III.  We  consider  the  truth  of  the  text  as  it  finds  ex- 
pression in  character.     The  law  of  character  is  a  fiery  law. 


THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM.  199 

We  are  taught  by  revelation  that  we  can  reach  perfection  of 
character  and  abiding  felicity  only  through  obedience,  self- 
denial,  supreme  endurance,  and  effort.  The  law  concerning 
human  character  and  duty  knows  nothing  of  accommodating 
itself  to  our  weakness  and  infirmity;  it  does  not  invite  or 
admit  excuses  for  failure  of  fidelity;  it  is  imperative  and 
uncompromising — a  fiery  law.  "  Cursed  is  every  one  that 
continueth  not  in  all  things  which  are  written  in  the  book 
of  the  law  to  do  them."  And  all  the  discipline  of  life  is 
correspondingly  sharp. 

And  yet  we  must  contend  that  this  severity  is  only 
another  expression  of  eternal  love.  Let  us  recall  the 
remembrance  of  the  vast  disasters  from  which  the  law  of 
God,  and  the  discipline  of  life,  seek  to  save  us ;  for,  indeed, 
they  seek  to  save  us  from  a  hell  of  degradations,  retribu- 
tions, and  miseries.  The  scientist  is  reconciled  to  austere 
Nature  by  the  consideration  that  she  ''  chooses  a  lesser  evil 
to  prevent  a  greater ; "  and  the  same  consideration  must 
reconcile  us  to  life.  When  we  are  called  upon  to  perform 
duties  utterly  repugnant  to  flesh  and  blood,  to  suffer 
grievous  losses,  to  experience  bitterest  disappointments,  to 
bleed  under  social  humiliations,  to  be  tortured  by  pain, 
to  lose  those  whose  love  was  our  life,  to  endure  the  great 
fight  of  afflictions  which  sooner  or  later  comes  upon  us  all, 
we  may  rationally  and  consolingly  murmur  to  ourselves, 
"  This  is  a  lesser  evil  to  prevent  a  greater."  For  as  the 
catastrophes  of  nature  are,  after  all,  but  partial  and  tem- 
porary, preventing  immeasurably  greater  calamities,  so  our 
physical  pain,  impoverishment,  social  suff"ering,  severe  toil, 
bereavement,  and  all  our  terrestrial  woes  are  the  lesser 
evils,  saving  us  from  the  infinitely  greater  one  of  the  super- 
ficiality, corruption,  misery,  and  ruin  of  the  soul.     And  not 


200  THE    LAW   OF   ANTAGONISM. 

only  is  the  fiery  law  a  wall  of  fire  securing  our  salvation 
from  the  abyss ;  it  is  also  a  call  unto  a  high  and  splendid 
perfection.  It  shows  the  way  to  the  dignities,  freedoms, 
treasures,  felicities,  perfections,  of  the  highest  universe  and 
the  unending  life.  The  light  afflictions,  which  are  but  for 
a  moment,  work  out  for  us  an  exceeding  and  an  eternal 
weight  of  glory. 

I.  Let  us  not  reject  the  law  of  Sinai  because  of  its 
severity.  The  law  of  the  mount  that  burned  with  fire 
qualifies  our  liberty,  lays  upon  us  solemn  obligations, 
threatens  us  with  awful  penalties,  and  therefore  many  resent 
it.  They  could  easily  admit  it  as  so  many  counsels  of 
perfection,  but  its  authoritative  and  rigorous  precepts  are 
exasperating.  Yet  we  see  that  the  severity  of  nature  is 
its  salvation,  that  if  the  stern  system  of  physical  law  were 
relaxed,  the  creation  would  go  back  to  mud  and  misery. 
And  does  not  the  salvation  of  the  nations  lie  in  a  similar 
severity  ?  Professor  Seeley  says,  "  Poland  perished  through 
the  fatal  pleasure  of  unbounded  individual  liberty."  Other 
great  empires  have  been  similarly  dissolved,  and  it  does 
not  seem  at  all  unlikely  that  some  modern  empires  will 
share  the  same  fate.  Only  by  rigid  subordination  do  nations 
grow  in  power  and  greatness.  And  so  with  the  individual. 
The  ten  stern  statutes  of  Sinai,  if  men  will  so  characterize 
them,  are  really  so  many  definitions  of  one  eternal  law 
of  love  j  and  through  the  keeping  of  these  commandments, 
which  are  not  grievous,  do  we  attain  strength,  beauty,  glad- 
ness, victory.  In  our  blindness  and  passion  we  repudiate 
the  cords  of  discipline ;  we  will  not  tolerate  these  circum- 
scriptions, prohibitions,  menaces  ;  we  covet  a  larger  liberty  ; 
we  despise  "  the  strait-lacing  "  of  revelation.  But  the  fact 
then  stares  us  in  the  face  that  we  can  be  nothing  without 


THE   LAW   OF   ANTAGONISM.  201 

self-restraint  and  obedience.  I  notice  that  the  musician 
with  the  harp  beheves  in  strait-lacing,  and  it  is  only  when 
the  strings  are  stretched  nigh  to  the  breaking  that  he  brings 
out  the  finest  music.  So  in  human  life,  caprice,  licence, 
abandonment,  mean  dissonance  and  misery  ;  only  through 
obligation,  duty,  discipline,  do  all  the  chords  of  our  nature 
become  tuned  to  the  music  of  a  sweet  perfection. 

2.  Let  us  not  reject  the  Lord  Jesus  because  He  comes 
to  us  with  a  cross.  The  law  of  Jesus  is  a  fiery  law.  The 
challenge  of  the  Master  is,  "  If  any  man  will  be  My  disciple, 
let  him  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  Me."  To  attain  the 
highest  we  must  be  crucified  with  Christ.  Hence  it  is  that 
many  decline  Christian  discipleship.  A  little  while  ago 
Renan,  addressing  a  brilliant  company  in  Paris,  spoke 
thus  :  "  The  French  language  and  the  wine  of  France  have 
a  humanitarian  part  to  play.  French  makes  the  heart  to 
rejoice ;  its  favourite  locutions  imply  a  sentiment  of  gaiety, 
an  idea  that  nothing  is  really  serious  at  the  bottom,  and 
that  you  enter  into  the  ideas  of  the  Eternal  through 
laughter,  and  not  tears.  .  .  .  God  never  did  evil,  and  He 
did  not  grudge  men  contentment,  which  could  only  be 
attained  by  gaiety  of  heart."  What  a  mighty  difference 
there  is  between  the  laughing  philosopher  and  Jesus  Christ ! 
*'  Contentment  can  only  be  gained  by  gaiety  of  heart," 
says  the  Frenchman;  says  Jesus  Christ,  ''Take  My  yoke 
upon  you  and  learn  of  Me,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  to  your 
soul."  "  Nothing  is  really  serious  at  the  bottom,"'  suggests 
the  modern ;  whilst  Jesus  Christ  in  His  every  word  and 
act  declared  the  awful  seriousness  of  life.  *'  You  enter 
into  the  ideas  of  the  Eternal  through  laughter,  and  not 
tears,"  says  the  gala  orator ;  says  Jesus  Christ,  "  Blessed 
are  they  that  mourn  :  for  they  shall  be  comforted."     Dear 


202  THE   LAW   OF   ANTAGONISM. 

brethren,  which  of  these  teachers  do  you  accept?  The 
man  crowned  with  rosebuds,  or  the  One  crowned  with 
thorns  ?  Is  it  to  be  the  wine  of  France,  or  the  cup  of 
which  He  drank  who  loved  us  and  who  gave  Himself  for 
us  ?  Is  it  to  be  gaiety,  laughter,  song ;  or  thoughtfulness, 
seriousness,  duty  ?  the  path  of  poppies,  or  the  path  of 
the  Passion  ?  Oh !  be  sure  that  Christ  is  the  grander 
Teacher,  and  through  the  self-denial  He  exacts  and  illus- 
trates shall  we  attain  life  and  peace. 

3.  Let  us  not  shrink  from  the  tribulations  of  life. 
"  Beloved,  think  it  not  strange  concerning  the  fiery  trial 
Avhich  is  to  try  you,  as  though  some  strange  thing  hap- 
pened unto  you  :  but  rejoice,  inasmuch  as  ye  are  partakers 
of  Christ's  sufferings;  that  when  His  glory  shall  be 
revealed,  ye  may  be  glad  also  with  exceeding  joy."  The 
whole  case  is  here.  We  must  not  consider  the  fiery  trial 
"  a  strange  thing."  It  is  the  universal  order.  We  witness 
it  in  all  nature;  we  discern  it  in  all  the  history  of  civiHza- 
tion;  it  is  the  common  experience.  The  fiery  trial  is  not 
some  ordeal  peculiar  to  the  Christian  saints ;  it  is  appointed 
to  the  whole  of  humanity.  We  must  not  consider  the  fiery 
trial  an  uncompensated  thing.  The  cross  we  carry  is  no 
longer  a  pitiless  and  crushing  burden ;  we  look  to  its 
ultimate  design,  and  know  it  as  the  rough  but  precious 
instrument  of  our  purification  and  perfecting.  This  as- 
surance is  our  rational  consolation  in  the  midst  of  many 
and  mighty  sorrows.  The  naturalist  reminds  us  how  the 
furious  eagerness  of  the  winged  insects,  which  seem  to  be 
the  agents  of  death,  is  frequently  a  cause  of  life.  By  an 
incessant  persecution  cf  the  sick  flocks,  enfeebled  by  hot 
damp  airs,  they  ensure  their  safety.  Otherwise  they  would 
remain  stupidly  resigned,  and  hour   by  hour  become  less 


THE   LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM.  203 

capable  of  motion  until  they  could  rise  no  more.  The 
inexorable  spur  of  the  furious  insects  knows,  however, 
the  secret  of  putting  the  flocks  on  their  legs  ;  though  with 
trembling  limbs,  they  take  to  flight ;  the  insect  never 
quits  them,  presses  them,  urges  them,  bleeding,  to  the 
wholesome  regions  of  the  dry  lands  and  the  living  waters 
where  their  afflictions  cease.  Which  things  are  an  allegory. 
On  life's  lower  plains,  living  lives  of  ease  and  indulgence, 
the  strength  and  dignity  of  the  soul  would  perish  ;  but  the 
ills  of  life  disturb  us,  sting  us,  incessantly  attack  and 
pursue  us,  until  bleeding  we  find  the  higher  planes  of 
thought  and  life,  until  at  last  we  reach  the  sweet  table- 
lands of  which  God  Himself  is  Sun  and  Moon.  The  fiery 
law  is  a  chariot  of  fire,  lifting  true  souls  into  heavenly 
places. 


THE    LIMITATIONS    OF    THE 
LAW    OF    ANTAGONISM. 


o 


THE    LIMITATIONS    OF    THE 
LAW    OF    ANTAGONISM. 

"There  hath  no  temptation  taken  you  but  such  as  is  common  to 
man:  but  God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be  tempted  above 
that  ye  are  able  ;  but  will  with  the  temptation  also  make  a  way  to 
escape,  that  ye  may  be  able  to  bear  it.'' — i  COR.  x.  13. 

We  are  all  familiar  with  the  severity  of  life;  we  often  feel, 
and  feel  bitterly,  the  extreme  tension  and  painfulness  of  our 
present  situation.  It  may  be  quite  true  that  the  fiery  law 
is  on  the  whole  benign,  that  the  battle  of  life  ends  with  a 
victory  for  the  better,  ere  it  begins  again  a  battle  for  the 
best;  but  so  far  as  we  are  concerned  individually,  it  is 
very  difficult  to  bear  the  pressure  and  pain.  Light,  con- 
solation, encouragement,  hope,  are  greatly  needed  by  us. 
Very  delightful,  then,  is  our  text,  showing  how  the  Divine 
love  tempers  life's  fierce  tyranny.  Nature  is  a  sphere  of 
darkness,  life  is  a  tragedy,  into  which  revelation  brings 
precious  explanations  and  encouragements. 

I.  We  observe  that  whilst  discipline  is  essential  to  the 
perfecting  of  our  nature^  the  struggle  of  life  might  be  excessive 
and  destructive.  "  Tried  above  that  ye  are  able."  How 
easily  this  might  be  !  We  see  in  nature  that  the  law  of 
antagonism  may  become  so  severe  and  unremitting  that  it 
makes   impossible  those  things  of  beauty  and  joy  which 


208      LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM. 

prevail  under  normal  conditions.  In  Arctic  regions  plants, 
which  under  more  genial  conditions  would  unfold  them- 
selves in  a  delightful  perfection,  remain  stunted  and  mean, 
exhausting  their  vitality  in  withstanding  the  severities  of 
the  climate.  The  same  is  true  of  animal  life.  The  New- 
foundland dogs  of  Kane  in  the  Polar  seas  became  mad 
through  the  excruciating  severity  of  the  cold.  The  birds 
come  to  a  certain  strength  and  glory  through  the  necessity 
of  awareness,  but  there  is  often  such  a  fearful  blood- 
thirstiness  in  the  tropical  forest,  such  a  profusion  of  cruel 
hawks,  owls,  serpents,  and  beasts  of  prey,  that  a  bird's  life 
is  one  long  terror,  and  it  forgets  its  music.  And  this 
applies  equally  to  man.  He  is  all  the  better  for  a  regu- 
lated conflict  with  his  environment,  but  all  the  worse  if 
the  conflict  attain  undue  severity.  His  conflict  with  nature 
may  exhaust  him.  The  Greenlander  is  physically  and 
intellectually  stunted ;  the  bitter  climate  renders  it  impos- 
sible for  him  to  grow  to  any  fair  measure  of  perfection. 
The  Eskimo  will  never  rival  the  Greek;  no  splendid 
civilization  will  arise  under  the  aurora  borealis,  any  more 
than  roses  and  myrtles  will  grow  there ;  the  vital  element 
in  human  nature  is  exhausted  by  the  severe  and  unceasing 
struggle  with  cold  and  darkness.  History  shows  how 
often  political  oppression  and  social  rivalries  have  de- 
stroyed most  flourishing  communities;  the  austere  con- 
ditions necessary  to  civilization  becoming  fatal  if  unduly 
intensified  through  ignorance,  selfishness,  and  violence. 
Sometimes  a  hopeful  people  have  collapsed  because  they 
have  been  compelled  to  struggle  at  once  against  human 
oppression,  and  the  destructive  forces  of  inorganic  nature ; 
with  both  combined  against  him,  man  sooner  or  later 
succumbs,  and  the  fields  he  has  won  from  the  primaeval 


LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM.      209 

wood  reLapse  once  more  into  wild  forestry,  or  into  barren 
wildernesses.^  On  all  sides  we  may  see  that  the  stern  laws 
which  are  necessary  to  our  development  may  become 
exhaustive  and  destructive,  passing  beyond  a  given  limit, 
as  in  athletics  a  man  may  be  overtrained.  And  all  this  is 
just  as  true  of  our  moral  as  it  is  of  our  physical  and  intel- 
lectual nature.  A  fair  share  of  hardship  develops  heroic 
qualities,  but  when  existence  becomes  too  hard  it  breaks 
the  spirit ;  the  child  cruelly  treated  becomes  cowed ;  men 
and  women  bred  in  misfortune's  school  become  timid, 
nervous,  cowardly.  So,  if  Heaven  did  not  temper  life,  the 
finer  qualities  could  never  be  developed  in  us.  Burdens 
too  heavy  to  be  borne,  would  break  our  heart ;  temptations 
too  fiery,  or  protracted,  wear  out  our  patience  ;  sorrows  too 
acute,  drink  up  our  spirit.  Overborne  by  unmitigated 
pressure,  wq  should  lose  all  faith,  courage,  hope ;  nothing 
would  be  left  to  us  but  atheism,  cynicism,  despair. 

"  God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  sufter  you  to  be  tempted 
above  that  ye  are  able."  It  is  truly  comforting  to  recognize 
the  hand  of  God  limiting  and  regulating  the  severities  of 
life,  so  that  they  may  serve  and  not  destroy  us.  When  life 
for  a  little  while  proceeds  smoothly,  easily,  happily,  it  is 
easy  to  sing  with  the  poet — 

"  High-throned  on  heaven's  eternal  hill, 
In  number,  weight,  and  measure  still 
Thou  sweetly  orderest  all  that  is." 

But  in  the  presence  of  storms,  earthquakes,  hurricanes, 
plagues,  it  is  not  so  easy  to  believe  in  number,  weight,  and 
measure ;  then  it  seems  to  imply  only  confusion,  reckless- 
ness, purposelessness.     And  yet  we  are  sure  that  majestic 

^  Marsh,  "  The  Earth  as  modified  by  Human  Action." 

P— 14 


2IO      LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM. 

law  prevails  amid  volcanoes,  cyclones,  eclipses,  plagues,  as 
amid  the  serenest  scenes  of  nature.  So  amid  the  strange 
conflicts  and  sorrows  of  individuals,  communities,  and  races, 
benign  law  reigns;  the  sufferings  of  men  also  are  in  number, 
weight,  and  measure.  In  the  Old  Testament,  God  is  repre- 
sented as  a  Destroyer  with  a  plumbline  in  His  hand.  Now, 
a  plumbline  is  usually  employed  for  the  purpose  of  building 
up,  but  God  is  represented  as  using  it  for  the  work  of 
destruction.  "  But  the  cormorant  and  the  bittern  shall 
possess  it ;  the  owl  also  and  the  raven  shall  dwell  in  it : 
and  He  shall  stretch  out  upon  it  the  line  of  confusion, 
and  the  stones  of  emptiness."  ^  Jehovah  is  represented 
as  using  the  plumbline  in  pulling  down,  inasmuch  as  He 
carries  out  this  reverse  of  building  with  the  same  rigorous 
exactness  as  that  with  which  a  builder  carries  out  his  well- 
considered  plan.  The  grand  idea  pictured  by  the  prophet 
is,  that  in  judgment  God  accomplishes  His  purpose  with 
extremest  exactness  and  discrimination.  The  blizzard  owns 
the  same  rule  as  the  zephyr;  the  storm  that  scatters  is 
measured  as  delicately  as  the  sunshine  that  ripens ;  one 
gracious  will  fashions  the  flower,  and  points  the  thorn ; 
the  same  curious  wisdom  that  creates,  ultimately  dissolves 
the  organism  into  the  dust.  Heaven  destroys  as  it  builds, 
with  line  and  plummet.  What  a  mighty  comfort  it  is, 
then,  to  know  that  the  seeming  irrationality  of  pain  is  not 
real,  and  that  all  suflering  is  adjusted  to  capacity  and 
need  !  Amid  all  the  confusion,  waste,  ruin,  sweat,  tears, 
and  blood  of  the  groaning  creation,  God  stands  with  the 
measuring-line,  dealing  to  every  man  trial,  as  He  assigns 
to  every  man  duty,  according  to  his  several  ability.  "  For 
He  knoweth  our  frame  ;  He  remembereth  that  we  are  dust." 
^  Isa.  xxxiv.  II. 


LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  LxUV  OF  ANTAGONISM.      211 

II.  Let  us  observe  some  of  the  Uinitations  which  God  has 
tfiiposcd  on  the  severity  of  life.  "But  will  with  the  trial  also 
make  a  way  of  escape." 

I.  There  are  doors  of  escape  ///  tJie  direction  of  nature 
and  intdllect,  There  are  sweet  interludes  in  our  conflict 
with  nature.  On  holiday-days,  and  in  hours  of  contempla- 
tion, we  are  often  rested  and  refreshed  by  the  sights,  and 
sounds,  and  suggestions  of  earth  and  sky.  The  sunlight, 
the  leaves,  the  green  grass,  the  thousand  flowers  between, 
the  winged  musicians,  the  sea,  the  clouds,  the  stars,  how 
tb.ey  caress  and  comfort  us ;  how  at  intervals  they  cause  us 
to  forget  the  vexations  and  burdens  of  life,  its  cares,  its 
wrongs,  its  regrets !  Often  does  the  philanthropist,  the 
thinker,  the  statesman,  the  trader,  the  toiler,  forget  in  the 
sweet  fields  of  nature  the  pressure  and  weariness  of  life. 
Jt  is  not  all  conflict  wilh  nature.  Summer  hangs  out  a  gay 
flag  of  truce.  Men  shout  in  the  gladness  of  the  vintage  j 
the  sky  rings  with  the  joy  of  harvest.  We  have  all  gracious 
hours  in  which  the  discords  of  life  are  drowned  in  the 
music  of  the  world.  There  are  doors  of  escape  also  into 
the  intellectual  world.  The  door  opening  into  the  library, 
the  picture-gallery,  the  observatory,  the  museum — all  are 
doors  of  hope  and  salvation.  In  literature,  art,  and  science 
increasing  multitudes  are  finding  bright  intervals  which 
make  life  endurable,  and  something  more  than  endurable. 
It  is  a  great  mistake  to  regard  books,  pictures,  organs, 
telescopes,  as  mere  toys  and  trifles,  having  no  essential 
significance  to  serious  men  ;  the  value  of  these  instruments, 
and  all  that  they  represent,  is  profound— they  serve  to 
save  a  long-suffering  race  from  insanity  and  despair.  The 
little  flower  in  the  desert  kept  faith  and  hope  alive  in  the 
heart  of  the  traveller  Bruce ;  and  beauty  ever  renders  that 


212      LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM. 

gracious  service  to  a  race  fainting  under  the  burden  and 
heat  of  the  day. 

Our  pessimistic  writers  strongly  urge  the  preciousness  of 
poetry,  music,  and  painting,  as  sources  of  consolation,  as 
delightful  resting-places  in  a  galling  life.  Here,  they  say, 
for  a  few  moments,  at  least,  we  get  rid  of  the  gnawing 
hunger  of  desire ;  art  is  the  one  palliative  of  the  woe  of 
being.  Now,  Christianity  is  far  from  accepting  the  pessi- 
mistic theory  of  art  and  poetry  ;  it  does  not  exaggerate  the 
value  of  these  pursuits,  it  does  not  by  any  means  consider 
them  the  only  alleviations  of  human  sorrow,  but  it  allows 
and  enjoins  the  noble  use  of  all  things  of  loveliness.  One 
of  the  very  welcome  doors  of  escape  from  a  world  of  trial 
is  the  gate  that  is  called  Beautiful.  The  Christian  world 
will  do  well  not  to  despise  this  gate,  but  to  claim  it  boldly 
and  frequently  for  the  much-tried  million.  Let  us  all,  as 
often  as  we  may,  pass  this  charmed  portal,  and  taste  the 
precious  assuagements  of  knowledge,  harmony,  eloquence, 
and  grace. 

2.  The  Divine  government  softens  the  severity  of  life 
by  the  disposition  and  aUernation  of  the  trials  by  which  ive 
are  exercised.  A  door  of  escape  from  one  trial  is  sometimes 
found  in  the  door  which  opens  upon  another,  and  one, 
perhaps,  not  at  all  less  severe.  Now,  this  variation  of  trial 
must  be  regarded  as  a  mitigation  of  trial.  Scientists  speak 
of  a  doctrine  of  "  unequal  wear."  Would  not  character  be 
injured  by  unequal  friction,  by  the  stress  of  life  falling 
constantly  on  the  same  article  of  faith,  on  the  same  faculty 
of  the  soul  ?  Would  not  uniformity  and  monotony  of 
pressure,  malform,  exhaust,  destroy,  the  sufferer  ?  Surely 
this  would  be  the  case.  Continued  trial,  unrelieved,  un- 
changed trial,  would  be  no  discipline  whatever ;  character 


LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM.      213 

would  be  misshapen  under  such  pressure,  as  the  trees 
on  the  seashore  are  by  the  constant  wind.  But  the  outer 
world  is  exquisitely  adjusted  to  the  exigencies  of  the  inner 
world;  and  so  the  incidence  of  trial  is  ever  being  shifted, 
the  vv-ear  and  tear  of  life  distributed  and  equalized,  so  that 
the  whole  man,  the  whole  race,  may  be  duly  exercised  and 
developed.  Weary  with  work,  we  find  relief  in  a  change 
of  work  ;  a  different  task  exercises  other  muscles  of  our 
body,  other  fibres  of  our  brain,  and  we  are  often  more 
refreshed  and  advantaged  by  a  change  of  tasks  than  we 
should  be  by  a  complete  cessation  of  activity.  Thus  in  the 
discipline  of  life  wonderful  moral  ends  are  being  compassed 
by  the  constant  changing  of  our  burden,  and  the  constant 
changing  of  our  strength.  Peter  speaks  of  "  being  in  heavi- 
ness through  manifold  temptations ; "  but  that  heaviness 
might  have  been  utterly  crushing  had  those  temptations 
been  less  diversified.  W^e  little  know  how  much  we  owe 
to  the  vast  variety  and  unceasing  change  which  obtain  in 
the  discipline  of  human  life.  Change  and  novelty  play 
their  benign  part  in  trial  as  in  pleasure.  Manifold  temp- 
tations are  counter-irritants ;  they  relieve  one  another ; 
together  they  work  to  a  complex  strength  and  perfection. 

Elihu  questioned  Job,  "  Dost  thou  know  the  balancings 
of  the  clouds,  the  wondrous  works  of  Him  who  is  perfect  in 
knowledge  ?  "  No,  we  do  not  know  the  balancings  of  the 
clouds — how  God  supplements  one  dark  thing  with  another, 
how  He  neutralizes  one  dark  thing  with  another,  how  He 
completes  one  dark  thing  with  another,  how  He  makes 
all  dark  things  agree  to  some  bright  consequence— all  this 
we  do  not  understand ;  but  it  is  our  strong  consolation  to 
know  that  He  does  balance  the  clouds,  that  He  sets  one 
thinsf  over  ao-ainst  another  with  such  subtle  and  (gracious 


214      LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM. 

wisdom  that  they  unfailingly  work  out  the  individual  and 
general  advantage.  Clouds  and  darkness  are  round  about 
Him,  but  every  shadow,  bolt,  lightning,  hailstone,  belonging 
to  the  economy  of  darkness  is  governed  by  absolute  wisdom 
and  righteousness.  The  epigram  of  Themistocles,  that 
"ruin  had  averted  ruin,"  has  often  palpable  illustration  in 
the  history  of  men  and  nations ;  but  it  is  only  in  the  light 
of  revelation  that  we  fully  understand  the  wide  sweep  of 
this  policy — by  ruin,  ruin  is  averted  ;  by  constantly  spreading 
the  lower  grounds  of  life  with  ruin,  Heaven  averts  the  ruin 
of  the  race  in  its  highest  powers  and  hopes. 

3.  The  severity  of  life  is  broken  dy  that  law  of  reaction 
which  God  has  established  within  our  nature.  Trials  without 
discover  forces  within.  The  way  of  escape  from  outer 
trials  is  by  doors  which  open  into  the  depths  of  the  soul. 
The  Chinese  express  an  absolute  dilemma  by  saying,  "  There 
is  no  road  into  heaven,  and  no  door  opening  into  the 
earth ; "  but  even  in  such  desperate  moments  there  may  be 
a  way  of  escape  by  taking  refuge  within  the  soul  itself. 
Mighty  forces  often  lie  latent  in  nature  until  peculiar 
conditions  elicit  them.  The  trembling  dewdrop  is  an 
electric  accumulator,  and  within  its  silvery  cells  is  stored 
a  vast  energy;  the  raindrop  and  the  snowflake  are  the 
sport  of  the  wind,  but,  converted  into  steam,  we  are 
astonished  at  their  potentiality ;  the  tiny  seed  seems  weak- 
ness itself,  yet,  beginning  to  germinate,  it  rends  the  rock 
like  a  thunderbolt.  Thus  is  it,  only  in  a  far  more  eminent 
degree,  with  human  nature  strengthened  by  the  indwelling 
Spirit  of  God.  In  the  first  hours  of  trial  we  may  be 
bewildered,  stunned,  staggered,  but  the  latent  forces  of  our 
nature,  stimulated  into  action,  render  us  equal  to  the  most 
trying  situation  and  the  most  trying  moment.     Says  Victor 


LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM.      21  5 

Hugo,  "  There  are  instincts  for  all  the  crises  of  life."  A 
deep  perplexity  awakens  a  flash  of  insight ;  a  bitter  opposi- 
tion sets  the  soul  on  fire ;  a  grave  peril  opens  our  eyes  to 
horses  and  chariots  of  fire ;  a  severe  catastrophe  evokes  a 
heroism  of  which  the  sufferer  had  not  thought  himself 
capable.  The  true  soul  possesses  an  innate  bravery  that 
will  not  permit  it  tamely  to  yield  to  the  slings  and  arrows 
of  outrageous  fortune.  "  Deep  calleth  unto  deep  at  the 
noise  of  Thy  waterspouts."  The  deep  without  calls  to  the 
deep  within.  The  deep  of  worldly  suffering  challenges 
an  inner  deep  of  patience  and  fortitude ;  the  deep  without, 
strewn  with  the  shipwreck  of  fortune,  reveals  within  a  deep 
of  courage ;  the  deep  without  yawns  into  the  blackness  of 
despair,  when  forthwith  hope  springs  immortal  in  the  breast. 
We  do  not  know  the  deeps  within  until  they  are  revealed 
by  the  deeps  without,  and  then,  if  we  are  faithful  to 
ourselves  and  to  God,  we  discover  that  the  Profundus  of 
the  soul  swallows  up  triumphantly  the  dark  Profundus  of 
this  mortal  life. 

Speaking  as  a  scientist,  Sir  W.  R.  Grove  said,  "  The 
element  of  force  is  mainly  taken  by  us  into  account,  and 
too  little  stress  is  laid  upon  the  element  of  resistance." 
Now,  if  this  be  true  of  the  physicist,  it.  is  still  more  true  of 
us  as  we  form  our  estimate  of  human  life.  We  forget  "  the 
element  of  resistance "  which  so  gloriously  distinguishes 
human  nature.  We  linger  over  the  mournful  and  harrowing 
spectacle  of  external  trial — the  physical  agony,  the  social 
pressure,  the  sharp  humiliations  and  sorrows  of  life  and 
death ;  but  we  must  learn  to  recognize  more  fully  that 
native  strength  of  heart  which  counters  the  shocks  of  doom — 
the  patience  of  the  race,  the  unsubduable  courage  resolute 
with  each  new  difficulty  and  foe;  the  humour,  the  poetry, 


2l6      LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM. 

the  hope  of  the  soul,  which  survives  ten  thousand  tragedies. 
And  we  must  remember  this  element  of  resistance  in  our 
personal  life.  Some  of  us  have  little  of  this  element  because 
we  have  sinned  it  away — wasted  the  secret,  sublime  strength 
in  sordid  and  sensual  living ;  but  all  who  are  true  to  God  and 
His  law  find,  when  all  other  doors  are  shut,  that  a  precious 
way  of  escape  opens  into  the  magnificence  of  the  soul. 
The  mere  metaphysician  perceives  the  extraordinary  virtue 
of  this  mystic  interior  power:  "  In  extreme  cases  the  inner- 
deriving  activity  will  conquer.  Martyrs  may  find  the  flames 
at  the  stake  as  pleasant  as  rose-leaf  couches."  ^  God 
dwelling  in  us,  working  in  us,  speaking  in  us, — here  is  the 
limitation  of  the  otherwise  overwhelming  burden  of  life. 
As  we  pass  through  scorching  flame  and  sweeping  flood, 
He  giveth  us  the  victory  through  the  Spirit  which  worketh 
in  us  mightily. 

4.  The  rigour  of  life  is  abated  /{y  //ie  social  laiv.  A 
while  ago  men  refused  to  see  anything  in  the  world  but 
the  law  of  antagonism.  Darwin  detected  this  law  acting 
mercilessly  in  the  organic  world,  crushing  out  all  weaker 
and  unfitting  forms,  when  forthwith  thinkers  insisted  on 
seeing  this  law  everywhere,  and  in  regarding  it  as  the  key  to 
the  whole  philosophy  of  history  and  progress.  But  students 
are  now  more  and  more  recognizing  that  the  biological 
law  does  not  dominate  society  as  it  does  nature,  and  that 
it  is  false  to  consider  the  human  species  as  regulated 
entirely  by  the  same  law  of  development  which  obtains  in 
the  inferior  species.  The  law  of  association  and  sympathy, 
considerations  of  right,  of  charity,  of  solidarity,  obtain 
amongst  human  beings,  and  this  mutuality  is  the  supreme 
law  of  their  relations.  If,  says  the  modern  evolutionist, 
^  Cyples,  "The  Process  of  Human  Experience." 


LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM.      217 

stern  competition  is  the  fundamental  law  of  nature,  coalition 
is  the  fundamental  law  of  civilization.  The  social  law  is 
the  principle  of  civiHzation,  and  the  process  of  civilization 
is  nothing  else  than  the  giving  to  this  principle  of  reciprocity 
ever  more  complete  ascendency. 

In  this  social  law  many  doors  of  escape  open  to  us 
when  the  blast  of  the  terrible  ones  is  as  a  storm  against  the 
wall.  What  a  royal  gate  is  that  of  Charity  !  Hospitals, 
dispensaries,  orphanages,  asylums,  shelter  multitudes  who 
are  afflicted  in  mind,  body,  and  estate.  In  many  ways  the 
Avealth  of  rich  men,  and  the  skill  of  gifted  men,  are  being 
exercised  to  soothe  the  sorrows  of  the  suffering  and  the 
desolate.  How  many  welcome  doors  Sympathy  opens ! 
The  sentiment  of  brotherhood,  working  freely  in  all  direc- 
tions, immensely  alleviates  the  bitterness  of  life.  What  a 
grand  door  is  Domesticity !  Sore  with  the  attritions  of 
business,  wounded  by  injustice^  weary  with  the  fight  of  life, 
we  soon  forget  all  when  soothed  with  the  affections  and 
entertainments  of  love.  Oh,  if  we  were  to  develop  the  social 
law  as  we  might,  what  a  gracious  and  sufficient  antidote  it 
would  prove  to  the  afflictions  we  bewail !.  ]\Iodern  literature 
has  fixed  our  attention  on  the  severity  of  law,  the  cruelty  of 
nature,  the  struggle  of  existence,  until  at  last  men  are  being 
paralyzed  with  the  spirit  of  scepticism  and  hopelessness ; 
but  we  forget  that  we  have  in  our  bosom  a  key  opening  iron 
doors — the  power  of  love,  the  magic  of  mercy,  the  conquer- 
ing energy  of  sympathy  and  unselfishness.  And  in  this 
growth  of  the  sentiment  of  fraternity  lies  the  great  hope  of 
the  future.  Science,  education,  and  government  may  lessen 
the  sufterings  of  humanity,  but  when  they  arrive  at  the 
irreducible  minimum,  what  keen  and  profound  sufferings 
will  still  rend  men's  hearts  !     When  learning  and  legislation 


21 8      LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM. 

have  reached  the  irreducible  minimum,  the  coffin  is  left. 
It  is  no  part  of  the  purpose  of  God  in  this  present  dispensa- 
tion to  deliver  us  from  severe  tribulations,  but  to  leave  these 
for  necessary  purposes  of  discipline,  strengthening  us  that 
we  may  be  able  to  bear  them.  Men  must  find  the  way  of 
escape  from  inevitable  distresses,  in  the  social  law.  Intellect 
is  delivering  us  from  the  mere  brute  strife  of  a  blind 
antagonism,  and  it  will  yet  further  deUver  us,  but  the  fulness 
of  the  victory  will  be  wrought  out  in  love.  We  must  honour, 
help,  shelter,  deliver,  and  bless  one  another.  We  must  set 
the  law  of  sympathy  against  the  law  of  antagonism.  Forgive- 
ness must  more  and  more  take  the  place  of  retaliation, 
reciprocity  the  place  of  egotism,  sacrifice  the  place  of 
indulgence,  union  the  place  of  isolation  and  rivalry.  Love 
will  prove  the  sovereign  antidote  to  the  sting  of  life  ;  the 
love  which  Christ  came  to  shed  abroad  in  our  heart. 

5.  Finally,  life  is  blessedly  tempered  l^y  the  religious 
hope.  "  Behold,  a  door  was  opened  in  heaven."  Often  is 
it  our  high  privilege  to  escape  from  crushing  sorrow  through 
this  golden  door  opening  into  the  eternal  light.  The  Lord's 
Day  opens  a  great  and  an  effectual  door  to  a  weary  world. 
It  is  indeed  appilling  to  think  what  would  be  the  condition 
of  things  with  us  were  it  not  for  the  rest,  the  refreshment, 
the  inspirations,  of  the  Holy  Day.  The  door  of  the  Church 
is  another  gate  of  relief  we  may  well  pass  with  thanksgiving. 
What  a  hiding-place  is  the  Church  of  God  from  the  storm 
and  stress  of  life  !  Strengthened  by  its  sacraments,  uplifted 
by  its  songs,  ennobled  by  its  solemnities,  the  penitent 
believing  soul  forgets  its  griefs  and  cares,  tasting  the 
powers  of  the  world  to  come.  No  language  can  express 
the  infinite  preciousness  of  the  grace  flowing  to  us  through 
the  ministers    and  institutions  of  the   Church    of  Christ. 


LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM.      219 

The  Bible  is  a  gate  of  pearl  through  which  bleeding  souls 
may  fly  for  refuge.  Again  and  again  would  men  faint, 
sink  in  utter  desperation  and  blasphemy,  were  it  not  for 
the  lines  of  light  traced  by  God's  finger  shining  through 
the  darkness.  The  door  of  our  chamber  opening  right 
upon  the  Throne  of  God  is  a  living  way  of  escape  for  men 
tempted,  and  tried  beyond  endurance.  A  lady  recently 
related  in  one  of  the  journals  how  she  went  through  a 
veritable  blizzard  to  view  a  flower-show.  With  one  step 
she  passed  out  of  the  wild  night,  the  deep  snow,  the  bitter 
wind,  into  a  brilliant  hall  filled  with  hyacinths,  tulips, 
jonquils,  cyclamens,  azaleas,  roses,  and  orchids.  It  is  the 
privilege  of  godly  men,  at  any  time,  to  pass  at  a  step  from 
the  savage  conflicts  of  life  right  into  the  sweet  fellowship 
of  God,  finding  grace  to  help  in  the  time  of  need.  It  is 
the  knowledge  of  God,  the  light  of  His  truth,  the  power 
of  His  Spirit,  the  hope  of  His  glory,  which  make  us  moie 
than  conquerors  in  the  times  when  men's  hearts  fail  them 
for  fear.  "  For  which  cause  we  faint  not."  No  men  knew 
more  of  the  travail  of  existence  than  did  the  Apostles,  but 
by  laying  hold  of  the  Eternal  they  smiled  at  life  in  its 
darkest  aspects,  at  death  in  its  cruellest  forms. 

Thus  the  painfulness  of  mortality  is  graciously  chequered 
with  gold.  The  great  Shepherd  who  know^s  full  wtII  the 
heat  of  the  sun,  the  roughness  of  the  path,  the  teeth  of  the 
briars,  gives  His  flock  quiet  resting-places,  and  opens  to 
them  in  desert  places  fountains  of  water.  Victor  Hugo 
says  truly,  "The  whole  of  existence  resembles  a  letter 
modified  in  the  postscript."  Marvellously  in  all  kinds  of 
ways,  in  all  directions,  does  the  grace  of  God  assert  itself 
in  softening  the  severity  that  threatens  utterly  to  over- 
whelm us.     The  consolations  of  God  are  not  small  with 


220     LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM. 

ns.  But  do  we  avail  ourselves  of  these,  consolations  ? 
With  a  strange  perversity  we  often  fail  to  do  so,  and  sink 
under  the  fury  of  the  storm  which  bursts  upon  us.  Let  us 
acquaint  ourselves  with  the  ways  of  escape  provided  by  a 
merciful  and  faithful  Creator.  In  the  days  when  the  worst 
comes  to  the  worst,  let  us  fly  through  the  open  doors  of 
salvation,  that  God  may  hide  us  in  His  secret  place  until 
the  storm  is  passed.  If  we  would  only  magnify  the  grace 
of  God  in  the  spirit  of  gratitude  and  faith,  as  in  the  spirit 
of  discontent  and  unbelief  we  magnify  the  tribulations  of 
the  present  time,  it  would  be  infinitely  better  for  us  and 
with  us.  Be  of  good  courage.  God  is  faithful  See  the 
rainbow  that  stands  over  you,  the  summer  that  is  beyond 
you,  and  you  shall  glory  in  tribulations  also. 


THE    ELIMINATION    OF    THE 
LAW    OF    ANTAGONISM. 


Qm/^ 


/  T 

THE    ELIMINATION    OF    THE 
LAW    OF    ANTAGONISM. 

"For  the  Lord  shall  rise  up  as  in  Mount  Perazim,  He  shall  be 
wroth  as  in  the  valley  of  Gibeon,  that  He  may  do  His  work,  His 
strange  work;  and  bring  to  pass  His  act,  His  strange  act." — Isa. 
xxviii.  21. 

*'And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of  heaven  saying,  Behold,  the 
tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and  He  will  dwell  with  them,  and  they 
shall  be  His  people,  and  God  Himself  shall  be  with  them,  and  be  their 
God.  And  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes ;  and  there 
shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there 
be  any  more  pain  :  for  the  former  things  are  passed  away." — Rev, 
xxi.  3,  4. 

Having  already  considered  the  painful  conditions  of  human 
life  and  the  generous  methods  by  which  Heaven  mitigates 
our  trial,  we  design  now  to  show  how  the  principle  of 
antagonism,  having  served  its  purpose,  will  cease  from  the 
universe  redeemed  in  Jesus  Christ.     Mark,  first — 

I.  T/ia/  the  law  of  antagonism  is  niinatural.  Two  widely 
different  views  are  held  concerning  the  character  of  the 
universe  upon  which  we  look.  Some  great  thinkers  main- 
tain that  nature  is  altogether  good  and  glorious.  A  dis- 
tinguished scientist  reminds  us  of  '-'that  gracious  Nature  to 
whom  man  yearns  with  filial  instinct,  knowing  her,  in  spite 
of  fables,  to  be  his  dear  mother."  ^  This  is  not  the  language 
*  Ray  Lankester,  "Degeneration,"  p.  67. 


224      ELIMINATION  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM. 

of  a  poet,  but  of  a  man  of  science  who  has  a  large  and 
intuiiate  knowledge  of  the  world  of  which  he  speaks  so 
admiringly,  so  affectionately.  On  the  other  hand,  equally 
able  men  teach  that  nature  is  malefic  and  abominable. 
J.  S.  Mill  in  a  famous  passage  paints  nature  as  teeming 
with  amazing  cruelty  and  terror.  In  the  opinion  of  the 
Gold  Coast  people  a  large  spider  made  the  world,  and  the 
philosopher  would  have  readily  agreed  that  it  bore  many 
marks  of  such  creation.  So  widely  different  is  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  world  given  by  these  thinkers,  that  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  believe  that  they  are  speaking  of  the 
same  object.  Which  view,  then,  is  correct  ?  We  say  both, 
and  taken  together  they  express  the  view  of  the  world  given 
in  the  Christian  revelation ;  the  conclusions  of  philosophy 
agree  with  the  theology  of  the  Church. 

Revelation  declares  that  the  world  as  it  existed  in  the 
thought  of  God,  as  it  came  from  the  hand  of  God,  was 
"very  good."  The  constitution  of  things  was  altogether 
gracious ;  the  original  order  was  full  of  harmony,  loveliness, 
and  blessing.  It  was  just  like  God  to  make  a  world  like 
that  which  arises  with  music  and  splendour  upon  our 
delighted  senses  in  the  beginning  of  revelation.  A  world 
so  garnished  and  ordered  agrees  with  our  conceptions  of 
the  Divine  wisdom  and  goodness.  Over  such  an  orb  well 
might  the  morning  stars  sing  together,  and  all  the  sons  of 
God  shout  for  joy.  This  is  the  world  extolled  by  Isaiah, 
by  Job,  and  by  Milton  ;  the  world  that  in  all  ages  has  filled 
pure  and  profound  souls  with  rapture ;  the  world  celebrated 
by  the  modern  scientist  as  "  the  gracious  Nature  to  which 
man  yearns  with  filial  instinct,  knowing  her  to  be  his  dear 
mother."  But  revelation  just  as  distinctly  acknowledges 
that  the  world,  as  we  know  it,  is  not  thus  beautiful  and 


good ;  that  it  is  not  the  normal  development  of  the  world 
which  God  created  and  made.  "  Sin  entered  into  the 
world,  and  death  by  sin  ; "  "  The  creature  was  made  subject 
to  vanity ; "  "  For  we  know  that  the  whole  creation  groineth 
and  travaileth  in  pain  together  until  now."  Through  the 
transgression  of  the  law  man  has  broken  up  the  delicate 
and  magnificent  order  of  the  world,  and  introduced  into 
all  mundane  spheres  strife,  suffering,  and  death.  It  was 
entirely  unlike  God  to  make  a  world  like  this.  Over  such 
an  orb  well  may  the  angels  weep.  This  is  the  world 
reprobated  by  Koheleth,  by  Buddha,  by  Schopenhauer,  by 
Mill. 

Our  first  text  reminds  us  that  God  sometimes  executes 
what  must  be  described  as  "  strange  work  ;  "  that  is,  work 
which  seems  altogether  at  variance  with  His  glorious 
character,  and  with  the  acknowledged  principles  of  His 
government.  Israel  through  their  sins  provoked  Jehovali 
to  act  as  if  He  were  forgetful  of  His  covenant— nay,  to  act 
as  if  in  direct  contradiction  to  His  gracious  character  and 
purpose.  Now,  we  affirm  that  the  whole  present  govern- 
ment of  this  world  partakes  largely  of  this  character ;  it  is 
a  "strange  work"  to  meet  an  extraordinary  crisis.  The 
sweating,  the  groaning,  the  bleeding,  the  dying,  all  the 
tragic  aspects  of  life,  do  not  belong  to  the  Divine  eternal 
order;  they  are  the  consequences,  not  of  the  laws  of  God, 
but  of  the  violation  of  those  laws,  and  they  exist  only 
locally  and  temporally  for  ends  of  discipline,  lesser  evils 
permitted  and  overruled  for  the  prevention  of  greater. 
The  present  melancholy  condition  of  things  is  not  the 
carrying  out  of  the  original  programme,  but  an  unnatural 
condition  of  things  forced  on  by  human  disobedience.  If, 
entering  a  house,  we  find  a  father  speaking  angrily  to  his 

Q— 14 


226      ELIMINATION  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM. 

child,  taking  away  his  toys,  limiting  his  liberty,  chastising 
him  with  the  rod,  we  know  that  all  this  is  contrary  to 
parental  feeling,  an  interruption  of  the  common  beautiful 
order — that  it  is  a  "strange  work"  directed  to  specific, 
pressing,  necessary  ends ;  so  we  believe  it  to  be  with  this 
present  epoch  of  world-suffering — it  is  God's  strange  act 
necessitated  by  our  disobedience,  still  overruled  by  His 
love.  "  He  does  not  willingly  afflict  or  grieve  the  children 
of  men."  The  normal  action  of  God  is  the  giving  of  good 
and  perfect  gifts— life,  health,  plenty,  power,  beauty,  joy ; 
in  these  things  does  the  Father  of  lights  rejoice.  For  the 
rest,  it  is  His  ''strange  work,"  contrary  to  the  impulse  of 
His '  eternal  love  and  to  the  order  of  His  universal  ad- 
ministration, although  there  is  still  mercy  at  the  bottom, 
and  glory  in  the  end. 

n.  That  it  is  the  purpose  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ  to 
abolish  the  law  of  antagonism.  "  Behold,  the  tabernacle  of 
God  is  with  men,  and  He  will  dwell  with  them."  The 
Deity  is  revealed  to  us  in  the  Man  Christ  Jesus^  who 
brings  us  into  loving  relationship  with  God,  and  into 
loving  relationship  with  one  another,  thus  banishing  the 
world's  disorder  and  distress. 

Comte  holds  that  there  is  in  society  a  constant  tendency 
to  give  ever  greater  ascendency  to  the  altruistic  instincts, 
and  he  anticipates  that  the  period  is  not  distant  in  which 
the  nobler  instincts  of  our  nature  will  have  far  larger  play 
than  they  have  at  present.  At  great  length  the  philosopher 
then  points  out  the  proofs  by  which  he  believes  the  finer 
instincts  will  attain  supremacy.  As  the  old  alchemy 
assumed  to  transmute  lead  into  gold,  so  by  a  mystic 
process  the  egoistic  principles  of  our  nature  are  being 
purified  and   changed   with   each    successive   generation; 


ELIMINATION  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM.      22/ 

until,  in  Comte's  opinion,  the  dominant  law  of  society  in 
the  future  will  be  the  broad,  pure,  uplifted  doctrine  of 
philanthropy.  There  is  a  secret  leaven  working  in  nature 
and  humanity,  and  little  by  little  science,  education,  and 
government  will  give  the  victory  to  those  milder,  nobler 
impulses  of  the  race  which  hitherto  have  been  so  grievously 
limited  by  the  sad  sovereignty  of  selfishness.  But  it  will 
be  allowed  that  this  doctrine  of  necessary,  gradual  improve- 
ment in  the  condition  of  the  race  finds  little  sanction  in  our 
latest  science. 

Our  grand  hope  in  the  ultimate  ascendency  of  the 
altruistic  law  is  in  Jesus  Christ.  He  reveals  to  us  with 
peculiar  clearness  and  power  the  highest  law  of  the  universe 
—the  law  of  love.  In  His  life  and  death  we  have  the 
supreme  illustration  of  unselfishness.  The  grand  burden  of 
His  gospel  is  love,  mercy,  pity  ;  it  is  the  most  eloquent 
plea  for  charity,  sympathy,  humanity.  And  by  the  power 
of  His  Spirit  He  breaks  down  in  men  that  tyranny  of 
selfishness  which  is  the  secret  of  all  our  woes,  and  enthrones 
within  our  soul  the  power  of  love.  He  utterly  destroys  in 
the  heart  of  man  the  egotism,  pride,  greed,  envy,  wrath, 
which  render  the  emulations  of  society  so  bitter  and 
destructive.  Comte  holds  that  the  imperfections  of  the 
human  brain  will  never  permit  the  full  supremacy  of  the 
higher  instincts ;  but  Christianity  speaks  another  language 
and  inspires  a  brighter  hope.  It  knows  of  no  physiological 
defects,  of  no  mental  limitations,  of  no  circumstantial 
denials,  to  prevent  the  full  supremacy  of  the  higher  instincts  ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  it  insists  upon  the  necessity  of  such 
supremacy,  and  resolutely  sets  itself  to  the  establishment 
of  such  supremacy.  And  the  Spirit  of  Christ  shall  never 
cease  to  work  in  the  race  until  there   is  no  more  useless 


228      ELIMINATION  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM. 

antagonism,  misdirected  antagonism,  destructive  antago- 
nism, but  there  shall  act  instead  the  affinities,  the  attrac- 
tions, the  forces  of  a  higher  law,  and  the  reign  of  blood 
and  iron  shall  be  over  for  ever. 

But  the  question  may  be  urged.  What  is  to  guarantee 
our  safety  and  progress  when  the  fiery  law  is  abolished  ? 
Speaking  of  the  visions  of  Isaiah,  Renan  says,  *'  They  have 
been  the  smoke  of  the  incense  with  which  humanity  has 
intoxicated  itself  during  many  centuries.  Powerful  nar- 
cotics, consoling  mankind  by  imaginary  paradises  for  the 
sorrows  of  reality,  will  never  cease  to  be  necessary  until 
humanity  attains  the  state  of  material  comfort  which 
renders  the  dream  useless.  Now,  if  humanity  should  ever 
reach  such  a  state  of  dull  beatitude,  it  would  be  so  quickly 
corrupted,  so  many  abuses  would  be  produced,  that  it 
would  require  to  rise  out  of  this  putrid  stagnation  a  new 
sacrifice  of  heroes,  victims,  expiations,  of  servants  of 
Jehovah.  This  is  the  eternal  circle  of  all  life.^  Stung  by 
adversity,  allured  by  dreams,  society  is  to  develop  itself 
until  it  reaches  a  state  of  rich  material  comfort ;  but  that 
state  without  struggle  is  to  prove  a  dull  beatitude,  and  is 
soon  to  be  corrupted  and  dissolved.  Without  hunger, 
difficulty,  woe,  all  things  are  to  sink  into  a  putrid  stagna- 
tion, out  of  which  society  will  not  rise  until  the  law  of  agony 
once  more  asserts  itself.  This  is  the  eternal  circle  of  all 
life.  The  brilliant  Frenchman  has  seen  through  the  historic 
ages,  that  in  suffering  men  and  nations  have  become  strong, 
only  to  collapse  utterly  when  they  attained  to  wealth  and 
security,  and  he  thinks  that  this  is  the  eternal  order.  But 
revelation  teaches  another  and  happier  doctrine.  It 
declares  that  the  highest  felicity  of  humanity  needs  no  dark 
'   *'  History  of  the  People  of  Israel,"  vol.  iii.  p.  405. 


ELIMINATION  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM.     229 

background,  and  that  when  the  age  of  martyrdom  is  over 
the  ultimate  civiHzalion  will  be  preserved  by  soft  but 
mighty  forces,  which  hitherto  have  been  allowed  only  in  a 
very  imperfect  degree  to  assert  themselves. 

What  shall  guarantee  our  safety  and  growth  when  the 
fiery  law  is  abolished?  The  prevalence  of  the  spirit  of 
Jesus  Christ.  L^niversal  love  shall  take  the  place  of 
antagonism  in  the  discipline  of  the  race.  In  the  individual 
life  we  find  a  ready  and  apposite  illustration  of  the  passage 
from  a  lower  law  of  action  to  a  higher.  In  the  days  of 
youth  we  were  kept  to  duty  by  the  austerity  of  our  masters ; 
a  whole  system  of  minute  and  coercive  discipline  was 
necessary  to  overcome  our  laziness,  our  love  of  indulgence, 
our  waywardness.  The  law  of  antagonism,  as  we  en- 
countered it  in  the  schoolroom,  was  very  bitter  indeed  to 
some  of  us ;  yet  we  now  know  it  was  essential  to  our  pro- 
gress that  we  should  have  been  subjected  to  such  coercion. 
But,  growing  into  men,  we  conceived  a  passion  for  know- 
ledge, art,  business,  duty  ;  larger  views  opened  to  us,  nobler 
motives  began  to  make  themselves  felt,  a  sense  of  dignity 
and  responsibility  was  created  in  us ;  the  spur  within  took 
the  place  of  the  spur  without,  and  the  whole  work  of  life 
is  now  done  in  a  far  freer,  happier  spirit.  A  change  corre- 
sponding to  this  is  now  being  wrought  in  the  race  at  large. 
"  Now  I  say.  That  the  heir,  as  long  as  he  is  a  child,  differeth 
nothing  from  a  servant,  though  he  be  lord  of  all;  but  is 
under  tutors  and  governors  until  the  time  appointed  of  the 
the  father.  Even  so  we,  when  we  were  children,  were  in 
bondage  under  the  elements  of  the  world  :  but  when  the 
fulness  of  the  time  was  come,  God  sent  forth  His  Son, 
made  of  a  woman,  made  under  the  law,  to  redeem  them 
that  were  under  the  law,  that  we  might  receive  the  adoption 


230     ELIMINATION  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM. 

of  sons."  Whatever  may  be  the  exact  meaning  of  the 
words  here  used,  the  general  sense  is  clear  enough,  that 
in  Christ  a  loftier  method  of  government  is  being  estab- 
lished, a  nobler  principle  of  action  is  being  made  pos- 
sible. "  The  rudiments  of  the  world  "  may  well  comprehend 
that  law  of  antagonism  by  which  the  world  in  its  childhood 
has  been  disciplined  ;  and  giving  to  the  apostolic  words 
the  largest  interpretation,  which  will  also  be  the  truest, 
the  race  has  now  received  a  higher  law  and  a  diviner  in- 
spiration. 

In  Christ  we  receive  the  adoption  of  sons,  the  inherit- 
ance of  brothers,  and  as  the  spirit  of  Christ  prevails,  the 
race  will  be  controlled  by  the  milder  yet  stronger  principle. 
The  energy  of  love  will  replace  the  energy  of  hate ;  the 
energy  of  hope,  the  energy  of  fear;  the  energy  of  disin- 
terestedness, the  energy  of  selfishness ;  the  energy  of  joy, 
the  energy  of  suffering;  the  energy  of  conscience  and 
righteousness,  the  energy  of  lawless  passion.  "  And  let 
us  consider  one  another,  to  provoke  unto  love  and  to  good 
works."  The  grand  developing  force  of  the  new  age  is 
here.  And  this  leaven,  placed  first  in  a  few  individual 
hearts,  shall  work  until  it  affects  the  whole  community, 
until  the  painful  elements  of  life  are  purged,  and  the  former 
things  have  passed  away.  The  arc  representatively  gives 
the  circle,  and  the  love  which  to-day  rules  in  a  few  hearts, 
and  makes  little  corners  here  and  there  delightful,  shall 
eventually  beautify  the  earth.  The  race  has  as  yet  reached 
only  its  first  stage  of  intellectual  and  moral  existence,  and 
in  the  ages  to  come  the  cruelty,  the  anguish,  the  strife  of 
humanity  shall  be  less  and  less,  until  *'  the  strange  act "  has 
wrought  its  benign  consequence,  and  sorrow  and  sighing 
flee  away. 


ELIMINATION  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM.     23  I 

III.  We  mark  the  signs  that  the  latv  of  a?ifago?iism  is 
being  eliminated.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of 
modern  thought  is  its  deep  discontent  with  the  L^w  of 
antagonism.  The  more  emphatically  the  scientists  assert 
the  existence  of  this  law,  the  more  loudly  do  we  resent  it, 
the  more  energetically  do  we  protest  against  its  reasonable- 
ness and  its  justice.  We  are  greatly  and  increasingly 
pained  by  the  spectacle  of  universal  strife  and  suffering. 
We  are  told  that  for  various  reasons  the  agony  of  the 
world  is  not  so  great  as  it  seems,  that  nature  knows  no 
moraUty,  that  the  splendid  results  justify  the  bloody  battle ; 
these  and  other  excuses  are  urged  in  extenuation  and 
defence  of  the  principle  of  antagonism.  But  we  refuse 
to  be  comforted  ;  we  will  not  reconcile  ourselves  to  such 
a  ghastly  state  of  things ;  we  decline  to  believe  that  such 
infinite  sorrows  are  normal  and  inevitable.  Ages  of 
familiarity  with  the  groans  of  creation  have  failed  to 
reconcile  us  to  .the  painfulness  of  life,  and  it  is  a  happy 
sign  of  modern  thought  that  this  noble  discontent  rapidly 
strengthens.  It  spoils  our  pleasure  in  unfolding  nature ;. 
it  makes  the  light  of  the  sun  to  take  a  sober  colouring  ; 
it  splashes  the  moon  with  blood  ;  it  banishes  the  splendour 
of  grass  and  flower;  it  mars  all  our  delight  in  skies  and 
rainbows,  in  the  music  of  the  woods,  in  the  jewels  and  shells 
of  the  depths.  Science  is  simply  sickened  by  the  terrible 
tearings  and  rendings  of  beaks  and  talons ;  by  the  gaping 
wounds  she  must  witness  ;  by  the  awful  cries  to  which  she 
must  listen.  History  writes  the  story  of  the  race  in  blood  ; 
but  we  refuse  to  believe  that  she  will  continue  to  pluck  her 
red  pages  out  of  the  heart  of  men.  Social  economy  begins 
to  perceive  that  society  is  capable  of  a  more  felicitous 
arrangement  than  that  of  antagonistic  groups.     We  hardly 


232      ELIMINATION  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM. 

know  how  to  go  about  remedying  things  ;  we  blunder  sadly  ; 
we  often  aggravate  the  evils  we  seek  to  abate  ;  but  it  is 
a  comfort  to  know  that  we  are  profoundly  discontented, 
We  may  well  believe  with  Emerson,  "This  great  discontent 
is  the  elegy  of  cur  loss,  and  the  prediction  of  our  recovery." 
We  see  signs  of  change  to  a  happier  state  of  things  in 
our  relation  to  nature.  Long  ago  it  was  understood  by 
scientific  men  that  the  creation  of  man  was  "the  introduc- 
tion of  a  new  element  into  nature,  of  a  force  wholly  un- 
known to  earlier  periods."  He  was  a  new  telluric  force, 
and  no  limit  could  be  assigned  to  his  controlling  power 
over  terrestrial  nature.  And  very  wonderfully  does  revela- 
tion recognize  the  interdependence  of  man  and  nature ;  in 
an  altogether  pre-scientific  age  the  prophets  pierced  to  this 
most  profound  truth,  that  man  possesses  to  a  vast  extent 
the  power  of  making  or  marring  the  earth.  In  the  past, 
this  human  power  over  terrestrial  nature  has  been  exercised 
disastrously;  "man's  intervention  has  hitherto  seemed  to 
ensure  the  final  exhaustion,  ruin,  and  desolation  of  every 
province  of  nature  which  he  has  reduced  to  his  dominion."  ^ 
He  has  wasted  the  garden  of  God ;  the  grass  has  withered 
under  his  steps.  But  is  not  a  great  change  being  wrought 
in  the  relation  of  humanity  to  its  environment?  We  are 
beginning  to  understand  much  better  the  laws  and  forces 
of  the  physical  universe ;  we  are  rapidly  learning  how 
gloriously  the  elements  and  creatures  may  serve  us;  nay, 
in  the  fields  of  nature  we  discover  how  more  and  more  to 
gather  grapes  from  thorns  and  figs  from  thistles.  "The 
wolf  and  the  lamb  shall  feed  together,  and  the  lion  shall 
eat  straw  like  the  bullock ; "  "  Instead  of  the  thorn  shall 
come  up  the  fig  tree  ;  and  instead  of  the  briar  shall  come 
'   Marsh. 


ELIMINATION  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM.     233 

up  the  myrtle  tree ; "  "  Behold,  I  create  new  heavens  and 
a  new  earth  :  and  the  former  shall  not  be  remembered,  nor 
come  into  mind."  The  vision  comes  nearer.  The  world 
shall  no  longer  revolt  from  man ;  man  shall  no  longer 
revolt  from  the  world.  The  biggest  and  bitterest  of  battles 
shall  end  in  peace. 

A  celebrated  traveller  concludes  a  famous  book  with 
these  pregnant  words  ;  "The  superiority  of  the  bleak  north 
to  tropical  regions  is  only  in  their  social  aspect;  for  I 
hold  to  the  opinion  that,  although  humanity  can  reach 
an  advanced  state  of  culture  only  by  battling  with  the 
inclemencies  of  nature  in  high  latitudes,  it  is  under  the 
equator  alone  that  the  perfect  race  of  the  future  will  attam 
to  complete  fruition  of  man's  beautiful  heritage,  the  earth."  ^ 
Only  by  battling  with  the  inclemencies  of  nature  can  man 
reach  an  advanced  state  of  culture,  but  having  reached  that 
intellectual  and  moral  perfection,  he  will  under  the  equator 
enter  into  complete  fruition  of  his  beautiful  heritage.  How 
much  all  this  sounds  like  the  teaching  of  the  Bible !  The 
bleak  north  makes  us,  and,  being  made,  the  perfect  race 
enters  into  the  paradises  reserved  for  it  beneath  the  sun. 
And  there  is  much  in  modern  life  to  indicate  how  easily  all 
this  may  come  to  pass. 

We  see  signs  of  change  to  a  happier  state  of  things  within 
society  itself.  A  process  of  amelioration  is  going  on  every- 
where. It  is  marked  in  the  business  world.  If  the  world  is 
built  on  the  sweating  system,  the  determination  strengthens 
that  the  worker  shall  no  longer  sweat  blood.  Through 
slavery,  through  feudalism,  through  sweating  systems,  does 
society  painfully  feel  its  way  to  a  more  equitable  and 
gracious  state  of  things.  In  the  old  days  the  bee-master 
'    Bates,  *'  Naturalist  on  the  Amazon,"  p.  3S8, 


234     ELIMINATION  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM. 

to  reach  the  honey  killed  the  bees,  but  now  he  contrives  to 
spare  the  bees,  who  continue  to  live  on  and  share  their 
own  sweetness.  A  similar  transformation  is  being  effected 
in  the  hives  of  human  industry.  There  is  an  attempt  to 
get  more  justice,  fairness,  and  even  mercy,  into  commercial 
rivalries ;  to  substitute  some  plan  of  co-operation  for  the 
existing  competition,  if  that  is  possible.  That  glove-fights 
are  being  substituted  for  prize-fights  is  indeed  a  slow 
approach  to  civilization,  yet  the  thinnest  gloves  are  a  con- 
cession to  the  rising  sentiment  of  humanity;  so  in  business, 
modern  society  is  getting  rid  of  certain  naked  brutalities 
of  antagonism,  and  giving  to  reason  and  compassion  a 
larger  place.  With  aching  head  and  aching  heart,  thousands 
to-day  feel  that  the  struggle  for  gold  and  bread  is  bitter 
enough ;  yet  a  better  spirit  slowly  emerges,  tempering  the 
fiery  law. 

Signs  of  change  to  a  happier  state  of  things  are  visible 
also  in  international  life.  There  is  growing  up  with  wonder- 
ful rapidity  a  sense  of  the  brotherhood  of  man;  a  larger 
and  purer  patriotism.  The  strong  feeling  on  behalf  of 
international  arbitration  indicates  that  the  world  is  growing 
out  of  its  childhood,  and  puts  away  its  drum.  The  nations 
of  the  future,  America  and  the  colonies,  are  not  being  built 
up  in  the  military  spirit,  but  in  the  pursuits  of  industry  and 
the  love  of  peace.  Salvator  Rosa  long  ago  painted  his 
picture,  "  Peace  burning  the  Instruments  of  War."  This 
generation  may  not  witness  that  glorious  bonfire,  but  many 
signs  signify  that  ere  long  it  shall  be  kindled,  lighting  the 
footsteps  of  the  race  into  the  vaster  glory  that  is  to  be. 

Let  us  first  ourselves  get  the  spirit  of  Christ.  Let  us 
see  that  our  hearts  are  emptied  of  all  jealousy,  pride,  hatred, 
covetousness,    all   the   combativeness    and    wrath,    all   the 


ELIMINATION  OF  THE  LAW  OF  ANTAGONISM.      235 

selfishness  and  fierceness  which  create  the  bitterness  of  the 
world.  Let  Christ,  the  Revelation  of  Eternal  Love,  be  our 
personal  Ideal ;  let  us  constantly  seek  to  be  filled  with  His 
pure  spirit !  Being  thus  inspired,  let  us  toil  for  the  good 
of  our  generation— using  our  knowledge,  riches,  science, 
influence,  to  soften  the  sorrows  of  society,  and  to  hasten  on 
the  better  days.  Let  us  profoundly  believe  in  the  golden 
year.  It  will  come.  This  vision  of  the  Revelation  is  no 
mockery.  "  These  things  are  true  and  faithful."  If  we 
are  faithful  in  our  day,  we  shall  share  the  ultimate  victory 
and  joy.  "  They  without  us  shall  not  be  made  perfect." 
Courage  !  the  darkness  is  passing  with  all  its  nightmares. 
The  Lord  shall  be  unto  us  an  everlasting  Light,  and  the  days 
of  our  mourning  shall  be  ended.  "  But  go  thou  thy  way 
till  the  end  be;  for  thou  shalt  rest,  and  stand  in  thy  lot  at 
the  end  of  the  days."  , 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Mistaken  Signs  ;  ani  other  Papers  on  C/irii/ian  Life  and 
Experience.     i83i.     Fifth  Thousand. 

Life  of  John  Wicklif     1884.     Second  Thousand. 

The  Influence  of  Scepticism  on  Character :  being  the 
Fernley  Lecture,  1886.     Eighth  Thousand. 

The  Beginning  of  the  Christian  Life.  18S7.  Fifth 
Thousand. 

The  Programme  of  Life.     1888.     P'ourth  Thousand. 

Noonday  Addresses  delivered  in  the  Central  Hall^  Man- 
chester.    1890.     Fourth  Thousand. 

The  Lessons  of  Prosperity  ;  and  other  Addresses  delivered 
at  Noonday  in  the  Philosophical  Hall^  Leeds,  1S90. 
Second  Thousand. 

[The  above  volumes  are  all  publishel  by  C.  H.  Kelly,  Wesleyan 
Methodist  Book  Room,  London.] 


LONDON : 

I'KINTKD    BY    WILLIAM    CLOWES.  AND   SONS,    LLMITED 

STAMFORD   STREET    AND   CHARING    CROSS. 


^irearjjers  of  ti)t  ^ge, 

Unifonii    Crown    ^vo    Volumes.      With    Photogravure    Portraits. 
Cloth  extra,  3s.  6d.  each. 

VOLUMES   ALREADY   PUBLISHED. 

I.   By  His  Grace  THE   ARCHBISHOP   OF   CANTERBURY. 
LIVING   THEOLOGY. 

"  Full  of  wise  counsels  and  generous  sympathies.'' — Tunes. 

II.  By  the  Rev.   ALEXANDER    MACLAREN,  D.D. 

THE    CONQUERING   CHRIST.     {Second Edition.) 

"Doctrinal  yet  practical,  full  of  literary  feeling  and  suppressed  spiritual  passiun, 
evangelical  without  being  narrow,  moral  without  ceasing  to  be  evangelical ;  sermons  no  man 
could  hear  without  profit,  and  every  man  may  read  with  advantage.  Nonconformity  still 
knows  how  to  rear  and  appreciate  preachers." — 'Ihe  Speaker. 

III.  By  the  LORD    BISHOP   OF    DERRY. 

VERBUM    CRUCIS.     {Second Edition.) 

"  Tlie  eloquent  Dr.  Alexander  has  done  a  rare  thing  for  him— he  has  published  a  volume 
of  sermons.  .  .  •  The  man  of  culture,  thought,  trained  observation,  and  holy  life  reveals 
himself  in  every  line." — Glasgow  Herald. 

IV.  By  the  Rev.  HUGH    PRICE    HUGHES,  M.A. 

ETHICAL    CHRISTIANITY. 

"The  volume  is  admirable  as  an  illustration  of  the  forceful  style  which  has  made  him  so 
powerful  as  a  religious  preacher  and  social  reformer." — Christian  World. 

Y.  By  the  LORD    BISHOP  OF   WAKEFIELD. 

THE    KNOWLEDGE   OF   GOD. 

"  He  has  the  rare  power  of  making  deep  things  plain,  and  the  sermons  often  assume  t!;c 
form  of  a  talk  to  his  'h.^'scc^xs."  —  Scotsman. 

VI.  By  the  Rev.  H.  R.  REYNOLDS,  D.D.,  Principal  of  Cheshunt 
College. 
LIGHT  AND  PEACE:  Sermons  and  Addresses. 

"Allowing  for  thedifferenceof  standpoint  between  Congregationalism  and  Romanism,  tlie 
sermons  in  the  present  volume  may  be  compared  with  those  of  Newman." — Glasgozv  Herald. 

VII.  By  the  Rev.  W.  J.  KNOX  LITTLE,  M.A.,  Canon  Residentiary 
of  Worcester  Cathedral. 
THE   JOURNEY   OF    LIFE.     {Second Edition.) 

"  The  sermons  it  contains  are  forcible,  and  may  in  many  ways  be  helpful  to  the  reader." — 
Kecord. 


London  :  SAMPSON  LOW,  MARSTON  &  COMPANY,  Limited, 
^t,  33unstan's  p?ousc,  Fetter  Lane,  Fleet  Street,  E.C. 


JSreacJns  of  tlje  9ist 

{Contimieii). 

Utiifofin   Croivn    ^vo    Volumes.      With   PJwtograviire    For! raits. 
Cloth  extra,  3s.  6(1.  each. 

VIII.   By  the  Rev.  CHARLES  HADDON  SPURGEON. 

MESSAGES    TO    THE    MULTITUDE. 

"The  undying  memory  of  the  great  Baptist  saint,  whose  last  work  on  earth  was  the 
partial  revision  of  the  volume  now  published  with  his  name  and  authority,  will  constitute  as 
strong  a  recommendation  as  any  that  we  can  give." — TUnes. 

IX.  By  the  Rev.  HANDLEY   C.  G.  MOULE,   M.A.,   Principal  of 
Ridley  Hall,  Cambridge. 

CHRIST    IS    ALL.  •  > 

X.  By  the   Rev.  J.  OSWALD    DYKES,  D.D.,  Principal   of  the 
English  Presbyterian  College,  London. 
PLAIN    WORDS    ON    GREAT    THEMES. 

XI.  By  the   Rev.  EDWARD  A.  STUART,  Vicar   of  St.  James's, 
Holloway. 

CHILDREN     OF    GOD. 

XII.  By  the  Rev.   A.   M.   FAIRBAIRN,   D.D.,   Principal  of  Mans- 

field College,  Oxford. 
CHRIST    IN    THE    CENTURIES. 

XIII.  By  the  DEAN    OF    NORWICH. 

AGONIC    CHRISTI. 

XIV.  By  the  Rev.  W.  L.  WATKINSON. 

THE   TRANSFIGURED   SACKCLOTH. 

XV.   By  the  LORD    BISHOP    OF   WINCHESTER. 
THE    GOSPEL    OF   WORK. 

XVI.  By  the  Rev.  CHARLES    A.    BERRY. 

VISION    AND    DUTY. 

AND     OTHERS. 


London:  SAMPSON  LOW,  MARSTON  &  COMPANY,  Limited, 
.St.   IBunstan's  ?l?ousf,  Fetter  Lane,  Fleet  Street,  E.G. 


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